Hardy Noticed
by darkestdepths90
Summary: Training with Jiraya was cut short, but Naruto is sent away with someone else to train. Don't own Naruto
1. Chapter 1

As Naruto runs towards the Hokage Monument, he is surrounded by red aura so dark that he was barely visible, while nine tails swayed behind him. His whisker marks were thicker and jagged and his eyes had cat like pupils, but remained their normal blue color.

He was in full control and refused to allow Kyuubi to take over even the smallest bit. He's getting closer and thoughts of the years he had spent with Hinata surface in his mind. He knew this might happen, but he was positive he could protect her.

Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage, had sent them on a training mission together that lasted three years. They weren't allowed to take much, so they had to relay on each other's skills to survive. Even now, he wondered why she had sent Hinata with him, but to be truthful, he didn't care. Whatever her reasons, he was grateful to her.

After a year of training with Jiraiya, Naruto had to return to the Konoha, because the perverted Sannin was beaten rather badly for peeping on some Kunoichi and needed Tsunade to operate to remove one of the kunai. It had been the first day of October and Naruto was eating breakfast when there was a knock on his door. 'Who the hell would come this early in the morning?' The clock on the wall said it was seven o'clock in the morning.

The only reason why he was even up was because he hadn't been able to sleep. He got up and moved toward his door. The knock came again. "I'm coming!" He turned the knob and threw the door open. He didn't look to see who it was. Instead he headed back to the table. "Come in and close the door behind you." He had started eating again before the door closed.

Kakashi sat at the table a crossed from him. "Naruto, it's not very smart to just let anybody in, I could have been someone in disguise."

"Relax, there's no one who could convince me they're Kakashi, not even you Sakura."

In a puff of smoke Kakashi disappears, and in his place was a pink haired young woman. "How did you know it was me?"

"Three ways, first of all, Kakashi is lazy about everything, even the way he talks. Second, he never uses the door, he comes in through the window. Lastly, henge doesn't disguise your smell." She glared at him and he put his hands up in front of him. "I'm not saying you smell bad Sakura, I'm just saying that you have a distinct scent. Kiba would say the same thing if you asked him. He could probably find you out of a dozen look a likes." He decided to quickly change the subject. "So, what do you need Sakura?"

"I'm supposed to tell you that Godaime wants to speak with you. She said it's urgent." Her face dropped a bit. "You don't think it's about Sasuke do you?"

"It might, the only way to find out is to go see her." He saw how sad she was. "Meet me at bridge before dark, I'll tell you what I can."

She gave him a half-hearted smile. "Okay, I'll see you then." After Sakura left, Naruto finished eating before heading to the Hokage Tower.

When he arrived, he knocked on the door and entered her office. As he entered, he was surprised to hear Hinata's voice. "N…Naruto?"

Tsunade looked up from her paperwork. "Ah, Naruto you're finally here. Please sit down so we can start."

He took the seat next to Hinata, who started to blush, and went without his notice. "What's this about Baa-san? Sakura said it was urgent."

Hinata looked up, surprised by how little respect Naruto showed the new Hokage. She was even more surprised by the fact the Tsunade was smiling. "How many times have I told you that I don't like you calling me that?"

Naruto was smiling too. "A lot, but that's what _he_ says about being called Ero-sennin, and I still call him that."

"That's true. All right, down to business. The reason why Sakura said it was important was because that's what I told her. I knew it would get you here faster. The truth is that I'm sending the two of you on a training mission for the next three years."

"WHAT?! We're at war and you're sending us on a training mission?!"

"Yes I am." Tsunade's voice was stern and her stare made Naruto go quiet. "You will be paid for the time you spend away. Half when you leave, the other upon your return. The catch is that you can only go to a village once a month for supplies, is that understood?" They both nod. "Good. Now I want you to stay in the Land of Fire, but don't stay in the same place for long, just in case there are enemies around."

"You are allowed to take some supplies with you. You can each take two changes of clothes and a sleeping bag. To share between the two of you, you can take fifteen kunai and shuriken and some food. Do you understand these conditions?" They nod again.

"Alright, you leave Friday morning. That means that you have the rest of today and tomorrow to say your goodbyes and get ready. That's all Hinata. Naruto, there is something else I need to discuss with you." Hinata said goodbye to both of them and exited the room.

Once the door closed, Naruto turned back to Tsunade. "What do you want to talk about?"

"The Akatsuki may try to acquire you again while you're gone, this isn't an order, but you should tell her. If they do show up and she doesn't know, she'll probably be too shocked to do anything to help."

Sadness filled his eyes. "I can't. Hinata is one of the few people who care about me and I'm scare she might not after she learns the truth."

"Your fears are rational, but I don't think that she'll do that." She just kept smiling. "Like you said, she cares for you Naruto."

"I'm still not sure, but I'll think about it. I'll see ya later."

He waved to her as he made his way out the door. "Later kid."

The sun was setting when he arrived at the bridge and Sakura was already there, looking into the water while she waited. "Hey Sakura." She looked up and he waved as he walked up.

"So what was so urgent?"

"It wasn't, she just said that to get me there faster. Before you ask, it had nothing to do with Sasuke." Her heart sank and he regretted that he caused it.

"Then what was it about?"

"I'm being sent away for three years on a training mission." There was annoyance in his voice.

"A training mission!" She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"I know. How stupid is that? But it does have an upside. I have quite a bit of free time to search for Sasuke, and if I should find him, I'll drag his ass back regardless of the consequences of coming back early. Be sure to keep up with your medical training because he'll need it depending on how willing he is to come back."

"Just make sure he comes back in one piece, I can't reattach limbs."

He smiled. "I'll try. I'm gonna go and get some dinner, you want to join me?"

Sakura smiled back. "No thanks, I think I'm just going to go home."

Naruto shrugged. "Okay, I'll see ya later."

Naruto made his way to his favorite restaurant, Ichiraku Ramen Bar. As he sat down, he heard a familiar voice. "Hi Naruto. Dad, Naruto's here."

The man in the back turned around and smiled. "Hey kid, it's nice to see ya. I make you a couple bowls right away."

"Thanks old man. Hey Ayame, has Iruka-sensei been in for dinner yet?"

"Nope, but I'm sure he'll be a long soon."

Just as Naruto was getting his first bowl, Iruka walked in. He sat down next to Naruto and Ayame gave him one of the other bowls her father had just finished. "Thank you Ayame, I see your father isn't wasting any time."

"Damn right, I can't have my best customers waiting."

Teuchi starts laughing and Iruka turns to Naruto, who is already starting his second bowl. "Hey Naruto, how about for your birthday I take you out for dinner, my treat."

Naruto stopped eating. "I'd love to, but I'm not going to be here for my birthday, I'll be on a mission."

Iruka smiled. "That's alright, it can wait till you get back."

Naruto looked up at him. "You're gonna wait three years just to take me out for my birthday?"

The smile disappeared from Iruka's face. "Wait, three years?" Naruto nodded. "What about Orochimaru and those cloaked guys that are after you? Someone going with you at least right?"

Naruto nodded again. "Hinata's going with me. As for them, we going to be moving around so much, that Baa-san doesn't think they'll find us. Besides, even if they do find us, I won't let them lay a hand on her and I won't go down without fight." Naruto smiled. "If we don't eat our food, it's gonna get cold."

After Naruto ate as much as he could, he went to pull out his wallet. Iruka stopped him. "Since I can't buy you a birthday dinner, I'll buy this one." He laid the money on the counter and both said goodnight to Teuchi and Ayame. "Come on, I'll walk you home. I want to finish our conversation."

After they were a little ways away from the restaurant Iruka spoke again. "Does Hinata know?"

"Know what?"

"You know what I'm talking about."

"No, she doesn't know about that, and if I have my way, she never will."

Iruka stops in his tracks "What?! If you're going to spend the next three years with her, she should know just in case something happens!"

Naruto stops too, a few feet away. "Baa-san said something along those lines too. But it doesn't change the fact that I don't want her to know."

"Why not Naruto?"

"Does it really matter?"

"No, but I'd like to know."

"I'm afraid…I'm afraid that after she finds out she treat me the same way the other villagers do."

Iruka walks up behind him and place a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Trust me, she could never feel that way towards you. If she finds out in any other way then you telling her, it will be much worse. Regardless, it is your decision. Good night Naruto, and good luck."

Without realizing it, they had gotten to his apartment and he watched as Iruka left.

When he got inside, he wanted just go straight to bed, but when he laid down, he couldn't fall asleep. He laid there for what seemed like hours waiting for sleep to come, but it never did and he just kept replaying the day in his head.

**Henge- Transformation Technique **

**Baa-san- Grandma (Tsunade)**

**Ero-sennin- Perverted Hermit/Pervy Sage (Jiraiya)**


	2. Chapter 2

On Thursday morning, Hinata was awake around six-thirty. She grabbed something to eat and went to find Kiba. She checked the places he liked to hang out at before she decided to look at the training area that her team used.

When she arrived however, the only person there was the last person she would have expected. Sitting at the top of the tallest tree, looking away from the village was Naruto.

'It's Naruto! I should leave before he sees me. I have a hard enough time talking to him when there are people around who give me support.' Before she could though he turned around and saw her just standing there. He hopped down from branch to branch and started to walk over.

He waved to her and smiled while he walked. He stopped at an arm's length from her. "Hi Hinata.

She blushed. "H…hello Naruto. I…I've never seen you up so early before."

He shrugged. "I couldn't sleep. Why are you out here so early Hinata?"

"I was… um… looking for Kiba."

"He's probably still sleeping."

"I… I suppose you're right. Are… are you ready for the mission Naruto?"

"Well actually, I was wondering if you would rather bring the kunai or shuriken."

"I… I hadn't really… um… decided yet. Which would you like to bring?"

'Why does she always do this around me? Well, at least she didn't faint this time.' "If it's alright with you, I think I'll bring the shuriken, okay?"

"Al… alright. I…I'll see you tomorrow Naruto."

"Yep, see ya later." He walked past her and started down the road.

She went in the opposite direction. 'I guess I'll have to go to his house now.'

It was nearly eight when she got to Kiba's house and she couldn't figure out where the time went. As she walked up to the door, she didn't hear anything from inside, but as soon as she knocked, she heard Akamaru barking.

After a few minutes, the door opened and Kiba looked surprise by who was standing there. "Hinata, what are you doing here so early?"

"I wanted to talk to you about something."

She was so happy he couldn't help but smile. "Okay, come on in." He moved aside so she could pass and closed the door behind her "So, what did you want to talk about?"

"I'm leaving on a mission tomorrow."

Kiba saw the smile on her face. "Naruto's going with you isn't he." She nodded. "Good for you, Hinata. You should really think about telling him while you're gone."

"If I can't find the courage to tell him this time, I'll never be able to."

He looked at her with a sly grin. "It's going to just the two of you isn't it?" She nodded again. "How long?"

She blushed and spoke quietly. "Three years."

"Holy shit, you're right, if you don't tell him this time, you probably never will." Sadness washed over her face and he saw it. "Don't get me wrong, I'm sure you will, but you need to relax when you're around him. If you get nervous like you do here, it's gonna be an awkward three years."

"I know, but whenever he's around, I just seize up."

"Here's what you do, when you start getting nervous, just take a deep breath and count to ten. Trust me, it will help."

She smiled at him. "Thank you Kiba. I'll give it a try."

"Don't worry about it. I tell you what, if you come back and still haven't told him I'll do it." She starts to laugh. "Seriously, I will. You're one of my best friends, and I'll do whatever I can to make you happy."

Hinata embraces him. "I'm going to miss you and Akamaru. Could you tell Shino I'm sorry I didn't get to see him? I need to go get ready."

"Sure. I tell him everything, but you have to tell us all the details when you get back."

She giggled. "Okay, I promise." She thanked Kiba again and headed home.

Naruto spent the whole day wandering aimlessly around Konoha and by sunset, he had found his way to the Hokage Monument. The craving of the fifth face had been finished recently. This was one of his favorite spots in all of Konoha; from here he could see the whole village.

'**How is your last day in this retched village going Kit?'**

The voice sent shiver up Naruto's spine, and he knew exactly what it was. 'It wasgoing just fine until you decided to open your damn mouth!'

**'Is that any way to speak to the one who saved your life on several occasions?'**

'You did it to save your own ass and we both know it! What do you want?!'

**'I want to know why you come here everyday, when one of those people cursed you with me.'**

'You're not a curse.'

The demon remained silent for a moment. **'Then what an I?' **Its voice was full of amusement.

'You're a burden, one I carry for the sake of everyone in Konoha."

Its laughing was unnerving. **'You're an amusing child. You carry the burden of me for a village that has hated and feared you your whole life.'**

Naruto was getting pissed. 'Not everyone here is like that!'

'**Then why are you so afraid of telling Hinata about me?' **Naruto didn't answer and after a few moments, Kyuubi continued. **'I'll tell you why, it's because deep down, you know that no one will ever truly care about you. You surround yourself with people to keep the loneliness at bay, but in the end you can't make it go away. Because you know that even if they can count on you, you can't count on them. The best example of this being that Uchiha brat."** It watched as Naruto's anger grew. **'Without me…'**

Naruto couldn't take it anymore, he let his anger get the better of him. 'Without you, I would have been accepted as a child! Without you, the loneness wouldn't have ever existed! Without you, I wouldn't be the target of a deranged group of deserters and murderers!' He started to calm down slightly. 'But without you, I wouldn't have the strength to protect those who are precious to me.'

It laughed again. **'As I said, you are an amusing child.'** The voice faded, but the anger didn't completely. He decided to go straight home and took off as fast as he could, moving from rooftop to rooftop.

The next morning, he was still haunted by Kyuubi's words. 'Maybe it's right. What the hell am I thinking?! Taking the words of a demon seriously, it's just trying to mess with my head.' He looked a round the room. "Shit, I forgot to pack!"

He hurriedly threw his stuff into a black duffle bag and ran out the door.

When he reached the northern gate, Tsunade, Kurenai, Jiraiya, and Hinata were waiting for him. "Your late kid. Come with me, I want to talk to you quick." Naruto followed Jiraiya away from the others.

Jiraiya looked over to make sure they were out of hearing range, when he was sure he smiled slyly at Naruto. "Lucky you kid, you get to spend the next three years alone with a pretty girl. Now remember kid, you need to… owww."

Naruto had punched him in the stomach. "One, she's too young for you, and two I don't want your advice, I'm not a pervert like you Ero-sennin." Naruto walked away, leaving Jiraiya standing there holding his stomach.

Tsunade looked over, as Naruto got closer. "Is he all right?"

"He said his stomach hurts." He shrugged.

Tsunade smiled seeing what really happened written all over Naruto's face. She handed a pouch of money to both Naruto and Hinata. "Now remember, you can only visit a village once a month unless it an emergency, like one you is seriously injured."

They say their final goodbyes, and leave together. Kurenai moves closer to Tsunade. "Ma'am, do you really think it wise to send the two of them, knowing how she feels about him?"

Tsunade sighs. "I'm hoping that with her with him, he won't do anything too reckless."

"Yeah right, like that will happen." Jiraiya had finally made his way back over to them. He still one hand on his stomach.

A group of nine sits around a table in a dark room. "He's leaving today, should we go get him now?"

"Where's the fun it that? I say that we wait and have a challenge taking him when he's stronger."

"We can't wait too long or it will be like fighting the demon itself."

"Itachi, Kisame, it is because of your failure to capture him that we are even discussing this. The two of you will be the ones to bring him here._ Don't_ fail again." The nine of them left the room in different directions.


	3. Chapter 3

They spent the rest of the day walking in silence, because neither of them really knew what to say. When they stopped that night, they picked a small clearing with easy access to a nearby creek. Naruto gathered some dry sticks and started a fire before rummaging though his bag for some ramen. "Damn it!"

Hinata was a little startled by his sudden outburst. "What's the matter Naruto?"

"I forgot to pack something to boil water in."

She could see how irritated he was. "Lucky for you, I brought something."

A smile quickly spread across his face. "Really?" She nodded and pulled a kettle out of her own pack. "Thank god you remembered, or I'd have no way to eat my ramen. Thank you Hinata."

She handed it to him and smiled. "It's no problem, I brought it to boil water for tea anyway."

Naruto took the kettle to the creek to fill it and when he returned he placed it over the fire. "Hey Hinata."

She looked straight at him, which was unusual for her. "Yeah Naruto?"

"Well, I was wondering if you would mind tell me about yourself."

This surprised her and she blushed. "Why do you want to know?"

"Well, it just that earlier, on the way here, I realized that I don't really know all that much about you. The only things I really know are that: Neji's your cousin, I've met your dad, and that you make some really good damn medicine."

She smiled and her face turned a color close to crimson. "Okay, what do you want to know about?"

"Could you tell me more about your family?"

"My whole clan lives in one large building. I have a little sister named Hanabi, she the same age as Sandaime's grandson, Konohamaru I think is his name. You said that you met my father." Naruto nodded. "I don't like to speak ill of him, but you must've seen his stare, and how it causes fear even it the bravest of people. His words are often harsh, but I know that he loves us both, even if he won't admit it."

"I know that stare of his a little too well, he used it on me. Even though he was speaking with someone else when I met him, I can feel his eyes on me the entire time. When he looked right at me, I couldn't move at all."

"Naruto, can I ask you something?"

"Of course you can Hinata. It's only fair."

"Why do you try so hard to find Sasuke when you don't seem to like him much?"

"I have a couple of reasons. First of all, and this is the more important one, I promised Sakura I would bring his dumb ass back. Second, before he left, he told me that he consider me his best friend. Some genius, he didn't realize that I thought of him more than just a friend, but as a brother. We save each other's asses so many times, I lost count. We keep pushing the other to our limits. He believed that he reached his, that's why he gave in to the seal." He looked down at the ground, but she saw a slight smile. "The sad thing is that he still hasn't realized that a person can become even stronger when fighting to protect someone precious to them. A boy named Haku, who was our age, told me that on my first mission outside the Land of Fire. It turned out that he was one of our enemies. He died protecting the man he devoted his life to. I have done so only a couple of times, but each time I almost went too far in doing so." Hinata wasn't sure what he meant by that, but she never got the chance to ask. "The water is boiling." He takes the kettle off the fire and pours some into two cups for tea and the rest into two things of ramen. Before eating, he looked up at the sky. 'Sasuke you dumb ass, Sakura's waiting for you.' He looks at Hinata, who was sipping her tea. "Hey Hinata, do you know how to climb trees with your chakra?"

She stopped drinking. "No, do you?"

Naruto grinned. "Yeah, it one of the only things Kakashi taught me. If you want, I can teach you in the morning. Of course, it could take more than a day."

She smiled back at him. "I'd like that."

"Great, then we should finish eating and go to bed, we'll need all the strength we can get." She nodded. As Naruto lay there, looking up at the stars, a feeling of joy washed over him. He couldn't explain it, but he felt tranquil. The only thing that ruined the moment was the nagging voice in his head. It wasn't that of the Kyuubi, but it was his own. 'Tell her. Tell her everything.' Although it took a while, sleep finally came to Naruto.

**"You want to tell her, but your head is getting in the way Kit."**

"Stay the fuck out of my head you damn fox!"

**"Now, now Kit. I'm trying to help you."**

"If you want to help, stay the hell out of it!"

**"This concerns me as well."**

"How do you figure?!"

**"What if I killed someone close to her? She may try to kill you, and knowing you, you'd probably let her. If you die, I die too remember."**

Naruto jerked awake and he sat straight up, covered in a cold sweat. He didn't notice the light being emitted from behind him. He muttered under his breath. "Damn you."

"Damn who?" He was startled by the voice and he drew a kunai as he turned around. Hinata sat before of him. She had restarted the fire was hold a cup of tea.

"It's nothing. What are you doing up?"

"I couldn't stay asleep. Despite my best efforts, I kept waking up in the middle of the same dream."

Naruto's interest of peaked. "What was it about?"

Hinata blushed, but the firelight hid this from his eyes. "Nothing that would interest you."

Naruto looked a little disappointed. "Well, since neither of us can sleep, do you want to start the tree climbing lesson now?" She nodded and finished her tea. Naruto crawled out of his sleeping bag and lead her a little ways away from the camp. "To do this, you need to focus your chakra into the soles of your feet. It's best to get a running start at first." Hinata tried to focus, which she found difficult to do with him watching. She ran towards the tree he was standing next to. Her first foot connected, but as she attempted to get a second step, she slipped. Her legs hit the ground, but Naruto had stopped her back and head. "Sorry, you weren't high enough for me to stop you completely."

"Thank you anyways Naruto."

He smiled down at her. "As you just found out, if you don't use enough chakra, you don't stick, but you can't use too much either, or you'll be pushed off. Luckily for you, you have the Byakugan." He saw that she was confused. "With the Byakugan, you can watch me do it and see how much chakra it takes."

She smiled, but shook her head. "No, I'm going to learn this on my own." His smile grew bigger because of her determination. He set her down and moved aside. She took a deep breath and counted to ten before concentrating her chakra again. She put more into it and ran at the same tree. This time, she went up about twenty feet.

"Good job Hinata. You'll be a pro in no time." Hinata continued to practice and by noon, she was walking up the sides of trees with ease. "Wow Hinata, I can't believe how fast you've master this. It took me the whole day, day and night, even with Sakura's advice." Her heart sank like it always did when he spoke of Sakura, but this time she noticed that there was something different in his voice. It wasn't the same way that he used to talk about her. Hinata started to smile, but Naruto hadn't noticed, he was facing away from her and he took a deep breath. "Damn it."

Her face grew concerned. "What is it?"

"It's nothing life threatening, but it's going to rain and we need to find some shelter."

She looked up into the sky and was confused because it was clear. "Are you sure, it doesn't look like it."

He nodded and brought his hands together in a seal she had seen him use several times, he used his index and middle fingers to make a cross. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." Ten clones appeared with a pop and a puff of white smoke. "Spread out and try to find some shelter." The ten clones ran off in different directions. Naruto turns back to Hinata. "Let's go pack up camp and gather some firewood so we'll be ready when they return." Still a little confused, she nods and they head back to camp.

They had finish packing and another half hour passed before one of the clones came back, looking very pleased. "There's a cavern a little ways up stream, the creek flows nearby."

"Good work." Naruto releases the jutsu and the clone disappears with a pop. He picks up his bag. "If we leave now, we should get there before it starts raining."

Hinata picks up her own bag. "Okay, let's get going." After ten minutes of walking in silence, Hinata broke it. "Naruto, could I ask you something?"

He looked at her and smiled. "Sure, ask away."

"How did you learn to make such great clones? From what I remember, in the academy your clones barely resembled you and didn't do anything."

"Those were regular clones, whose purpose was to distract, these are shadow clones. It's a more advanced version I learned off a scroll." His smile disappeared as he continued. "Do you remember Mizuki from the academy?" She nodded. "He told me about the scroll, and said that if I were to learn a jutsu off of it I would automatically graduate. It turned out that it contained the secret and forbidden jutsu of the village. Not knowing this at the time, I took it from the Hokage's office. Mizuki used me so he could take it from the village while I was blamed. Luckily, Iruka-sensei found me first and I told him what Mizuki told me. He showed up and tried to kill Iruka-sensei, but I used my clones to kick his ass." He smiled proudly.

"You didn't answer my question." The tone of her voice surprised him.

"I thought I did."

"No you didn't."

"What was the question again?" He looked at her sheepish.

'Naruto, you're so gullible. Oh well, now I'll get two answers.' "Why would you learn a clone jutsu, when you said yourself that it was your worst skill?"

"Well… uh… you see…"

"Come on Naruto, just spit it out."

'This coming from Hinata, who until we left, could barely talk to me before fainting.' He smiled again and scratched the back of his head. "It was the first thing I saw."

She started to laugh. "That's it? Of all the jutsu on it, you picked the one you were the worst at because you saw it first?"

"Yeah, pretty stupid huh."

"Well, at least it turned out for the best, now it's one of your best skills."

"Thanks Hinata. Mizuki was right by the way." She stopped laughing and tried to figure out what he meant. "After I used it on him, Iruka-sensei passed me." His smile disappeared again. "If Iruka-sensei hadn't been the one to find me, I probably would have been killed then, the excuse being that I knew even a single jutsu. Expect for a handful of people, no one would have cared, not even my friends because I made them all after the fact."

Hinata was horrified. "What do you mean?"

The voice in his head returned, this time it was louder and more forceful. 'Tell her! You've already told her almost everything else!' He ignored it. "You've must have seen how people treat me. They act like I'm no better than a demon."

Hinata heard the pain in every word and she looked away, not able to bear the sight of sadness and pain on his usually happy face. As she shift her gaze she saw it, maybe twenty yards ahead. "Naruto, I see the cavern."

Almost as soon as they were both inside, the sky let go and rain poured from the sky. Naruto had been the first one in and as they walked, she couldn't help but think. 'It's barely big enough to stand in. But the clone wouldn't have come back if it didn't think it would work, would it?' They kept walking and after five minutes, Naruto realized that the walls were growing further apart. Soon after, they entered a large chamber. He continued in so Hinata could get out of the small passage. He used some of the wood they had gathered to start a fire so they could see in the pitch-black cave. With the fire started, he stood and looked around in awe.

The chamber was large enough to fit the Hyuga clan house inside. Even unblocked, the light from the fire couldn't penetrate all the shadows. "This perfect, the opening is so small that if someone does attack, it will be easily defendable. I just hope there's nothing living in here." He smiled and looked around some more. 'I gotta remember how to get here. It will be a nice place to come when I want to get away from the assholes from the village.'

Naruto had gone outside to get some water for they dinner and Hinata sat in the chamber waiting, while lost in thought. 'What happened that night that the mere memory could cause so much pain? What did he mean when he said he almost went to far protecting someone precious to him?' As much as she wanted to know, she decided that he was going to tell her, he would when he wanted to.

As Naruto walked back, he was arguing with himself. 'You should tell her before you go too far.'

'What if she reacts like I fear she will? Not only will I lose someone dear to me, but if she says anything, I could lose the rest as well.'

'This is Hinata we're talking about remember.'

'I know, but still…'

'The only sure way to find out how she'll react is to tell her.'

'I know that too, but what if Kyuubi's right. It's never lied to me before.'

'You're going to take the word of a demon over your own heart?'

'No, but I still think that I should wait a little longer.'

'The longer you wait, the harder it will be.'

The voice faded as he walked into the chamber. Hinata was just sitting there, and he knew she was deep in thought. He didn't want to disturb her, so he started making dinner as quietly as he could.

As he worked, he could feel her eyes on him and turned to look at her. He looked into her eyes. 'They're nothing like her father's cold eyes, they're full of emotion. She's worried about something, and after the things I told her during the last two days I don't blame her. She probably has a few questions too.'

"Hinata, I know there are some things you want to ask me, and if it is about what I think it is, I do plan on answering them. I only ask that you give me some time to think of the best why to do so."

She looked dumbfound. 'How did he know?' "I only want you to tell me when you're ready to do so Naruto, and when you do, there is something that I want to tell you."

Naruto smiles. "When the rain stops, we should start moving again, Baa-san said we shouldn't stay in one place for too long."

Tsunade and Jiraiya sit at her desk, each with a cup of sake in front of them. "Are you sure about that Jiraiya?"

"Yes, they know he's gone, but for some reason they haven't moved on him. It's like there waiting for something."

"Hey answer me damn it!"

Kyuubi's monstrous face appears behind the bars. **"What do you want Kit?"**

"I want to know if there is any way for me to handle more of your power!"

Kyuubi laughs. **"If you're trying for my full power, you should forget it. Your weak human body could never handle the stress, but if you just mean more than you can now, I suppose it's possible."**

"How?"

**"Patience Kit, I'll tell you, but only because we both know the more you use, the weaker the seal becomes. To use more, you'll have to increase your endurance."**

"Thanks for telling me. That is the only thanks you will ever get from me!"

Naruto turned to leave, but Kyuubi's voice stopped him. **"One day, I will break free of these bars Kit."**

Naruto smiled with his back still turned to the bars. "I know, and when you do, I'll kick your sorry excuse for a demon ass back to hell where you belong."

It laughs again. **"You said yourself that I am your strength, so how do you plan to stop me?"**

"I'll find a way to do what Yondaime couldn't, I'll kill you. Then you'll only be a burden to the devil himself." In an instant, the fox's face was eclipsed by shadows, and Naruto made his way out through the passages of his mind.

Naruto stood at the opening to the cavern. 'Damn it! As much as I hate admit it, I would kind of miss the smart ass if it broke free. Even if it is the reason for the feeling of loneliness, I was never really alone. It was always there, even if it was to make snide remarks. Awww… what the hell I'm I thinking, it's the cause of everything bad in my life!' He was getting really pissed, both at Kyuubi and himself. "At least I can use my anger for my training. The best way to increase endurance is to use weights like Bushy Brows does, but I don't have anything like that. I guess it will have to be option two, manual labor." The thought of dragging larger rocks and tree trunks made him cringe. "If it means getting stronger, I'll just have to suck it up."

As he turned to go back inside, movement caught his eye. He saw it again, it moved fast, and was getting closer. All he really saw of it was a strike of a reddish-orange moving from brush to brush, and then it just stopped. It let out a tiny yipping sound and Naruto realized what it was. He walked to the bush it which it stopped and spread a few of the branches. He smiled down at the fox kit. 'It's probably not even old enough to take care of itself' "Let's get you out of the rain." He reached his hand into the bush and grabbed the kit gently. He held it to his chest and ran back into the cavern.

Kyuubi, lying curled in the darkness laughs. **"You are an amusing child, even after all the things you say I've done, you'll still care for one of my kitsune brethren."**

**Kitsune- Fox**

**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu- Shadow Clone (Copy, Replication, Doppelganger etc.) Technique**


	4. Chapter 4

Hinata's screaming woke Naruto the next morning. "Naruto, there's something _else_ in your sleeping bag."

He started to chuckle. "Oh, is that all? I thought that someone was attacking." He reached down into it and pulled the fox kit out. "Sorry, I forgot to tell you. I found him outside by himself last night, so I brought him in out of the rain. I don't think he can care for himself yet."

He had expected her to be at least a little mad for making her worry, but she smiled and giggled. "That's really sweet of you Naruto, but you know that if he's alone and can't care for himself then he's probably an orphan."

Naruto's smile got even bigger. "I know, that's why I'm gonna keep him. He's young enough that I can teach him how to survive in the village and as long as he doesn't sprout eight more tails, no one should care. Even if they do, an outcast pet for an outcast."

"What do you plan to name him?"

"I was thinking Minato." She was shocked. "I think it's fitting, don't you? Yondaime reincarnated as the same type of creature he gave his life to stop."

From the way he spoke, it sounded to Hinata, like he had a deep-rooted hatred toward the Fourth Hokage. 'That's not possible, he wouldn't have been more than a few hours old when the Hokage died.' Naruto hadn't noticed the look on her face.

"He has the potential to became as powerful as Kyuubi with enough training and I could probably teach him to talk too."

"If he does become that powerful I hope he doesn't go on a rampage like it did."

"Me too, I don't want him to end up like the Kyuubi." 'And I wouldn't wish my life on anybody else.'

After three months of hauling heavy dead trees and boulders, Naruto bought training weights using the money he had saved from his pervious missions. It had only been a week, and he was already wearing as much weight as Lee did against Gaara.

"I'm surprised you can move around so much with that kind of weight. It must be close to time for you to add more."

"Just about, it will probably be a couple days."

Hinata was looking around the clearing they had set up camp in. "Where did Minato go?"

Naruto smiled. "He saw a rabbit, he's getting really good at hunting. He won't be long."

Almost as soon as the words left Naruto's mouth, he came out of some nearby brush, dragging a white rabbit. He brought it before Naruto, who cut off a fairly large piece of the meat with his kunai. He handed the piece to Minato, who then curled up at Naruto's feet and ate happily.

Every now and then, Naruto would glance in Hinata's directions. But when his eyes fell upon her, he didn't want to look away. 'She's not nearly as shy as she was before. She hasn't fainted once this entire trip, and she even blushing less.' The fact of the matter is that she only blushed when she caught him staring, like now, and when they accidentally touched. He even found himself doing the same. He couldn't put his finger on it, but he knew that something had changed between them.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the only thing that changed. They were both growing, and before long, they would need new clothes. "Hey Hinata, when was the last time we went to a village?"

"Last month, I'm not sure of the date, but it was a few days before my birthday. So a little over two weeks ago."

His jaw dropped. "Why didn't you tell me that your birthday was so close? We could have celebrated."

She answered a little irritated. "Because we didn't celebrate yours."

Naruto smiled. 'I didn't think anyone our age knew when my birthday is.' "We were in the middle of nowhere then. Besides, I haven't ever celebrated it, and since you know when it is, you should realize why."

"It's a day of mourning in the village, not out here."

He wasn't smiling anymore. "There is another reason I don't celebrate, but it has to do with what I want to tell you. I still not sure how to tell you the biggest part of it." He remained silent for a minute before smiling again. "We got really off track. The reason I asked is because we need to get some new clothes, and I think Minato got into our food."

"What makes you think that?"

"Everything is chewed on. Apparently, he's a lot more like me than I thought, he ate everything except the veggies."

"Okay, we'll go into town tomorrow, but this time we'll have to keep it away from him."

"I don't see how. He won't fall for genjutsu, his nose will lead him right to it, and we can't put it in a tree because he and other creatures can climb."

"We'll think of something."

The next morning, they walk towards the village talking about what to get.

"We're going to get clothes first, then eat lunch, and then get supplies. Naruto, chances are that we're going to keep growing, so just buy something that's comfortable and fits, don't go too crazy."

"I know, but I gotta get something I can train in with room for my weights."

He worn a large smile as he played with the fox kit lying on his shoulders. As she watched him trying to stop Minato from nibbling on his hair, she saw something that she hadn't noticed before. He had taken the spirals off of his jacket.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her staring at him with a smile on her face. "What is it Hinata?"

She was startled by his voice, she didn't think that he had noticed. She blushed slightly. "The two of you just remind me of Kiba and Akamaru, that's all."

He turned his attention to her. "I know it none of my business, but you two seem really close. Are you two dating or something?"

Her eyes widened. 'Did he really just ask me that?' Naruto felt really embarrassed, and started scratching the back of his head. "No, we're just friends. But he's always after me to tell the one I do like how I feel." 'I'll just give him subtle hints until he ready to tell me.'

"Who is it? Come on Hinata, tell me please."

"You can guess if you want, but I'll say no every time."

"Fine." A sly smile spreads over his face. "I'll guess and see how you react, that should tell me."

'Shit, I hadn't thought of that. Would he guess himself?'

"Hmm… you said it wasn't Kiba, so maybe Shino or Shikamaru?" She laughed. "I'll take that as a no, but I hope it's not Sasuke because as much as I hate to admit it, I'm hoping Sakura gets him." She shook her head. "It's not Sai is it?" Again she shook her head. "That's a relief because I pretty sure he's gay. Is he older?"

"No, same age."

"Well that leaves out Bushy brows."

They were just about at the village by now. "Would you drop it for now, we can pick it up again once we leave."

"Alright, but by then I'll have probably figured it out. There aren't many more candidates."

'I doubt it Naruto, or else you would have years ago.' Hinata ran up to an elderly woman to ask directions. "Excuse me ma'am, but could you tell me where the nearest clothes store is?"

"Certainly dear, there's one a few stores down. There's a big sign outside, you can't miss it."

Hinata bowed. "Thank you ma'am."

"You're very welcome my dear." Hinata bowed again before running back over to Naruto.

Almost immediately after entering, Hinata ran off to the other side of the store. Naruto just shrugged and wandered around looking for something that fit his needs. He picked up a few things here and there before he went to the changing room to try them on.

He decide on a black sleeveless shirt, a pair of dark blue pants that were a little loose around the legs, and an almost blood red robe-like over coat to cover the weights. Everything was slightly too big, but it was a good thing, because if Hinata was right, and there they were going to keep growing, then these would last a while. He changed back and went to pay for them.

When he arrived at the counter, Hinata was taking the bag with her new clothes inside. She waited for him and they walked out together.

"Hey Hinata, do you want to see if they have a public bath house, so we can get cleaned up and change before lunch?" She smiled and muttered sure. "Great, but first we have to find out if there is one." He runs over to a man passing by. "Excuse me, but is there a public bath house in this village?"

"Yes there is. Ya see that road there?" He pointed to a road not too far from where they stood and Naruto nods. "Ya take that to the end and take a right, it's right in front of ya."

Naruto smiled. "Thanks."

"No problem, but I should warn ya…" His dropped to a whisper. "If they catch ya peeping, they'll throw ya out."

Naruto was getting pissed, but he controlled himself. "I'm not a pervert."

The man waved and walked away when Hinata walked up behind Naruto. "Is everything all right Naruto?"

He forced a smile. "Fine, I got direction to the baths." He grabbed her hand, making her blush, and lead her towards them.

He didn't really think about what he was doing or notice that Hinata was blushing because he had other things on his mind. 'That asshole didn't even know about Ero-sennin and still thought that I was a pervert! I bet that he wouldn't have said anything if I would've had Hinata with me when I asked. Then again, maybe he would have, he might have thought she was my girlfriend.'

It was then that reality caught up with him. He realized that he was holding her hand and a light blush spread across his face. They had reached the point where they were to go right, and Naruto stopped, letting go of her hand. Both of them still red in the face.

They spent the next half hour there, and Naruto, being the first one out, anxiously waited for Hinata. When she finally came out, his jaw hit the floor. 'She's gorgeous. How the hell didn't I notice before?!' She smiled and blushed a color close to crimson. "Wow." He felt a little stupid for it, but it was the only thing he could manage to say. Hinata giggled, which made him blush too, but not as deeply.

She wore an oversized, violet overcoat like his with a darker sash around her waist. He assumed that there was a something under this, but wasn't sure. She also a pair of black pants similar to her old ones. He smiled wide and couldn't help but stare.

She smiled back and walked over to him. "Let's go get something to eat." She takes his hand in her own and lead him out. 'So much for subtle.'

Lunch was nothing out of the ordinary, ramen and tea, but Naruto didn't eat much. He was distracted by his thoughts, and couldn't take his eyes off of her. 'How the hell could I be so dense? The only thing missing was a big sign over her head that said 'I like Naruto'. Now I know what the fainting was all about.'

Laughter of lunacy rings out in his head. **'You're just realizing it now Kit?'**

'You knew? What the fuck, why didn't you tell me?'

'It doesn't concern me.'

'That's never stopped you before!'

'**I don't care for affairs of the heart. Demons have no need for such emotions.** **We seek out a healthy partner to mate with, nothing more.'**

'So you would be perfectly happy spending eternity alone?'

'I would prefer it that way Kit.'

'I have spent enough time alone, and I'm not going back to that. I'm going to tell her and if she wants to plunge a kunai through my heart afterward, so be it. I won't stop her, death would be better than being alone again.'

Hinata had seen his face go from happiness to anger in the blink of an eye. "Naruto, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing, I'm just pissed at myself for not realizing sooner."

She started to blush again. 'Did he figure it out?'

"I'm going to tell you everything tonight, after dinner." She was going to ask him if he was sure, but she knew what he would say.

Shopping for supplies seemed to take less time then she or Naruto thought. As they walked through the forest looking for a suitable place to set up camp, she noticed that Naruto seemed more distracted than usual. His eyes were darting around looking through the trees. "Is everything all right Naruto?"

"Yeah, I thought I heard something, but it's probably just an animal."

"I could always use my Byakugan to check."

"Nah, there's no need, I pretty sure it's gone." Even though she knew he didn't really believe that, she didn't press the subject.

It was getting dark by the time they chose a spot on the riverbank next to a waterfall. "It's getting dark, we should start dinner."

Naruto looked over at her and smiled. "Before we do, we should ask if our guest will be joining us for dinner." She looked at him confused and he just looked over at the tree line, she followed his gaze. "How about it, care to join us Sasuke?!"

**Bushy Brows- Rock Lee**


	5. Chapter 5

Naruto looked over at her and smiled. "Before we do, we should ask if our guest will be joining us for dinner." She looked at him confused and he just looked over at the tree line, she followed his gaze. "How about it, care to join us Sasuke?!"

At that moment Hinata's eyes widened and Sasuke dropped from the tree. "Are you still trying to take me back loser?"

"Yes, at Sakura's request, but that's not why I'm here. You didn't answer my question."

"No, I won't be eating with you. That way you won't be able to drug me, so you _can_ take me back."

Naruto just smiled. "I don't need to drug you to do that, I'll take you back by force.

Sasuke smirked. "I've been training with Orochimaru, one of the Densetsu no Sannin."

"Big deal, so have Sakura and I, even if mine is a pervert, he was still Yondaime's sensei."

"I know, Orochimaru has been keeping an eye on you. He also told me that you were holding back quite a bit in our last fight." A gasp made him turn and notice Hinata for the first time since he entered the clearing. His smirk almost turned to a smile. "She doesn't know does she?"

'What could be so secretive that Naruto didn't even tell Sasuke?'

"Would you like to know?"

Naruto stomach knotted. "Whatever it is, I'll wait until he decides to tell me."

Sasuke laughed. "He won't ever tell you this, or anyone else for that matter. I'm not sure if he's ashamed, embarrassed, or if he's just scare of how people will treat him once they know he the…"

Naruto interrupts him, his eyes had slit pupils and were turning red. "Shut the hell up!"

Feeling the killer intent focused on him, he spoke again. "Settle down, unless you want her to see what you're becoming."

"Why the fuck did you come here anyway?"

Sasuke's focus returned to Naruto. "We have a score to settle."

"Fine, but leave her out of it." Naruto walks over to Hinata, calming himself slightly on the way. "Hinata, I want you to take Minato and get as far from here as you can. Don't come back, no matter what you hear."

"I won't you leave here."

"You have to, I'll be fine." She shook her head. "I promise you, I'll come find you afterwards, and I always keep my promises." He hands her the fox kit and turns to face Sasuke as she speeds away. "Before we start, I have a question for you."

"Fine, but only if I can ask you something too Naruto."

"Fair enough, what's your question?"

"Why have you always held back? In every battle, on every mission, even against Gaara, you have never used your full strength."

"Up until my fight with Neji, I could only tap into when I was really fucking pissed, like against Haku and Orochimaru. After removing that seal Orochimaru placed on me in the forest, Ero-sennin taught me how to contact the fox and get the power when I wanted it. The reason I don't use all the power is because my body can't handle all of it, I would be ripped to shreds.

"In our fight, I only wanted to match you. I didn't want to kill you." He looked Sasuke in the eyes. "You saw the aura around me, it had one tail, but when it has four, the fox takes over. It doesn't matter if they're friend or foe, they're all the same to it. That's why I hold back, I don't want to kill my teammates as well as the enemy."

"Okay, what's your question?"

"The night you left, Sakura tried to stop you, you remember?" Sasuke nods. "She told you she loves you and even said she would go with you. As a reward, you knock her out and leave her on a fucking bench. My question is did you even care? Did you feel anything at that moment?"

In a flash, Sasuke held Naruto by the collar. "How dare you ask that?! Of course I fucking cared! She was willing to leave her family, her friends, everything for me! You have no idea what that feels like, or how hard it was for me to do that to her."

"You're right, I don't know how that feels, so why did you do it?"

He let go and turned away. "I couldn't let her do it, not for me. I didn't want her to go down the same twisted path I'm on."

"Fine, you answered my question, now let get down to business. And when I done kicking your ass, I drag your dumb ass back and you can apologize to her."

Sasuke smirked and jumped away from him. When he turned back, Naruto eyes were still blue. "What not going to use your demon's chakra?" He was still smirking.

"Not unless you use the curse seal."

Sasuke's eyes turned red as he activated his Sharingan. "Whenever you're ready." They both rush each other, blocking the others attacks. They seem to be at a draw when they jump away from each other. Sasuke lands at the tree line and Naruto on the river. "Not bad Naruto."

"You haven't seen anything yet." Sasuke was about to attack again when he heard Naruto's voice again. "I have another question, I know Itachi killed your clan and that he's a sick asshole, but what's the real reason you want to kill him?"

"What the hell is that suppose to mean?! That _is_ the reason!"

"That's bullshit and you know it! Is it that he called you weak, or is it the fact that he left you all alone?" Sasuke's growth in anger was visible on his face. "That's it isn't it? Do you think that you're the only one who's ever felt that pain? At least you knew your family, I've been alone since the day this bastard fox was sealed in me. And you did the exact same thing to Sakura when you left."

"She still had you and the others."

"It's not the same and you fucking know it! She loves you Sasuke, and no matter what you do she always will. I promised her that I would bring you back. I have never broken a promise, and I _won't_ start with this one!" Naruto puts his hands together using his middle and index finger to make a cross. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

Twelve Narutos stand on the river and they all rush Sasuke. Sasuke quickly does a series of hand signs and brings his hand to his mouth. "Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu." He shoots off four fireballs, each hitting a clone in the chest, which all disappeared in a puff of smoke.

He reaches into his weapon pouch and throws several shuriken, and three more vanish. A kunai flies past his head and sticks into a tree. He grabs it and one of his own. He stabs one Naruto and throws them both to hit two more. Before he is able to counter, the remaining two each hit him in the chest, sending him crushing into a tree.

The curse seal activates and spreads across his face and down his arm. When he stands, the aura around Naruto is strengthening and then the first tail appears. "Why is it that we're always fighting each other Sasuke?"

"So we can reach our limits."

"This isn't the only way to do that. Besides, you only reach your limit when you stop trying. The Kyuubi is suppose to have limitless power, but he was defeated and sealed by Yondaime, something that even it has no idea how he had the strength to do."

Naruto rushes Sasuke again, he's no longer standing, but down on all fours. Sasuke grabs another kunai and when Naruto goes to hit him, he makes a deep gash from wrist to elbow on his right arm. Sasuke kicks him in the stomach as he tries to jump back, sending Naruto crashing to the ground. The seal spreads further, now on both arms and legs, as well as completely across his face, as a second tail appears. Naruto rushes again, his moves becoming erratic. He runs into the forest and bounces off the trees, gathering speed.

Even with the Sharingan, Sasuke is barely able to keep him in sight until it's too late and Naruto is shooting straight at him. Before Sasuke has a chance to do anything, He is hit in the face, and Naruto's speed adds to the force of the blow, sending Sasuke flying again. He is knocked through the waterfall and hits the rock wall behind.

There was a good thing and a bad thing about where he was, Naruto couldn't hear or see him, but the same was true in reverse. A third tail appeared in the aura around Naruto and he had Rasengan charged up in his hand. He shot a chakra hand toward the spot where Sasuke had landed, but he didn't know that Sasuke had also powered up to the second level curse seal. Sasuke flew from behind the waterfall and landed near Naruto, Habataka Chidori in hand.

At that moment, the same thought goes through both of their minds. 'This isn't going to end like last time!'

They charge each other for one final assault, their strongest attacks in hand. The attacks meet, causing an explosion of chakra, and they're engulfed in a dome of black light. The dome disappears and Naruto stands over Sasuke, who had reverted back. "It's over Sasuke. We're going back to Konoha… Ahhhh!"

Sasuke's hand was gripping Naruto ankle, he stands up and pins Naruto to a tree with a kunai through his right shoulder. Sasuke smirks. "Chidori Nagashi, doesn't kill, but it paralyzes for a short time." His face becomes emotionless again. "I'm sorry Naruto, but I can't go back until I've killed Itachi."

He turns and is about to leave when Naruto's voice stops him. "Sasuke!" He turns back and tears are flowing from Naruto's still red eyes. "Sasuke please come back, Sakura is waiting for you. We both know what it feels like to be alone, and no one should have to feel that way. Please, you're the only one who can make her pain go away."

"Naruto, will you give her something for me?" He walks back over and sticks a letter into Naruto's pocket. "I've learned a lot from Orochimaru, and there's a jutsu on that, so only she can open it. Please be sure that she gets it." He turns and speeds away from the battle damaged area.

Naruto grabs at the kunai to try to pull it out, but it's lodged to far in and he can't get a grip on it. "Damn it, the wound won't heal if it's still there. Even with Kyuubi's healing powers, I could bleed to death if I don't get it out." He tries again and again, but it's all in vain, the blood making it even harder to grab.

He didn't know how long he was there, but he started getting woozy, and just before he passed out he thought he heard someone call his name.

Hinata had kept moving despite the sound of battle echoing through the forest, or least she did until she heard and felt an explosion. She turns back the way she came. "Naruto." She heads back, moving even faster than she come. 'I shouldn't have left. If anything happens to him, I'll never be able to forgive myself.' She stopped in her tracks and her blood ran cold when she heard a cry of intense pain. "No! Please no!" She took off again.

When she arrived, the area was in ruins. She looked around quickly and didn't see anything. She was about to activate her Byakugan when Minato jumped from her arms and ran for the only tree in the damaged area that still stood, only slightly up rooted.

She ran towards the tree. "Naruto!" On the other side of the trunk, Minato sat staring up at Naruto. Blood dripping off of his fingers had made a puddle at his feet. The moment she saw him, she dropped to her knees as tears fell down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry Naruto." Minato yipped and she looked up, it was weak, but he was breathing. Her tears didn't stop, but she stood up, determined to get him down.

The only thing holding him there was the kunai, and it was also the worst injury he had suffered. There was also a long shallow cut down his arm and a couple of bruises here and there, but none of those were as serious. The kunai was in too deep for her to grab it, but she had an idea of how to remove it.

She dug through her bag and pulled out a rope and went to tie one end to the kunai, as she did she noticed something was different about his face. His whisker marks were bold and thicker. She shook her head clear of these thoughts. 'This isn't the time. I need to get it out or he'll die. I'll worry about that later.'

She ran to the nearest tree, about thirty yards away, and wrapped the rope half way around. "Minato, get out of the way, I don't want it to hit you when it comes free." He ran over to her and sat next to the tree. Now that he was a safe distance, she pulled on the rope with all of her strength, but she couldn't get it to move.

After several tries she hadn't moved it at all, and was about to give up, but his words came back to her from their first night out. _'A person can become even stronger when fighting to protect someone precious to them.'_

She wrapped the rope around her arm and tightened her grip on it. "I can't give up. You said that you could grow stronger when fighting for someone you hold dear, and there is no one I hold more dear than I do you." She didn't know if he could hear her or not, but it didn't matter, she wanted to say it aloud. "I love you Naruto Uzumaki!"

She gave it a sharp pull and never let up until the kunai popped out and Naruto slide down the trunk. She runs over to him to stop the bleeding and bandage him up, but when she reaches him, she sees how bad the shoulder wound actually is.

She hasn't had any medical training, but she does know basics, and when the nerves are severed, even an idiot knows that you need to get to a hospital. Without proper medical attention, soon, he would lose the ability to use his arm. But knowing the basics, she knows that if she were to try to move him without stopping the bleeding, he would go into shock.

She takes off his overcoat and weights, **(A/N He still has his black shirt on.)** which proves difficult, to bandage his shoulder across his chest and down his arm. When she finishes, she lays him down gently and covers him with his overcoat and blanket.

His whisker marks have returned to normal by now, making her even more curious about what caused them to change. After an hour or so, she started a fire near him and sat next to him while Minato curled up on his chest.

It was getting close to midnight when she felt movement by her side. Naruto was awake and petting Minato. "What happened?"

**Densetsu no Sannin- Legendary Three Ninja (Jiraiya, Tsunade, Orochimaru)**

**Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu- Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Jutsu**

**Rasengan- Spiraling Sphere**

**Habataka Chidori- Flapping One Thousand Birds**

**Chidori Nagashi- One Thousand Birds Current**


	6. Chapter 6

It was getting close to midnight when she felt movement by her side. Naruto was awake and petting Minato. "What happened?"

"I was hoping you'd tell me, when I got here you were unconscious, pinned to a tree, and bleeding to death."

"Not that I'm not grateful, but I thought I told you not to come back, you could have really gotten hurt."

"I had to come back, I wouldn't be able to live with myself if something had happened to you. You should get some rest, we have to head to a hospital tomorrow."

"I'll be fine."

"If you don't get some treatment, you won't be able to use your right arm again."

"Give me a few days. If there's no improvement, I won't complain about going."

"All right, fine. Two days, but it won't matter."

"Thanks Hinata." He looked up from Minato as he said this.

She looked as though she was going to cry. "Why would Sasuke do this? You said he thought of you as his best friend."

"He's done worse. Besides, he knew that if he didn't restrain me, I would just keep trying."

"He could have done that without nearly killing you."

"Did you know that you hallucinate from blood loss?"

"Don't change the subject."

"I'm serious, I thought I heard someone talking when I was out of it."

"Really, then what did this person say?"

"I couldn't really make out all of it, but I did catch the last sentence. The person said 'I love you Naruto Uzumaki!' and I think I recognized the voice." Hinata's face went dark red. "It sounded familiar, but I can't seem to place a name or face with it."

'He heard me say that? I didn't think he could hear me.'

"Hinata, I think you should lay down. Your face is really red, you might have a fever."

"Maybe you're right. Just don't move around too much or you'll reopen your wounds." She laid down right where she was, and soon after she fell asleep. She hadn't grabbed her blanket, and she shivered from the cold January air. Using only his left arm he covered her as best he could with his.

'How am I going to explain it to her when she goes to change the bandages and the wounds are smaller if not gone completely. Damn you Sasuke, you've forced me to tell her now.'

He stayed up all night so he could tell her. When she woke up, he was sitting up. She gasped when she saw his shoulder. "Naruto, you bled through your bandages. I told you not to move around too much."

"All I did was sit up."

"We're going to have to change that."

"Before you do, there's something I need to tell you. I said I would last night and never did."

"That can wait, your wounds are more important."

He grabbed her hands as she reached for the bandages. "Trust me, I need to tell you this." He let her go. "Hinata, was there anything strange about me when you found me?"

"Besides you being stuck to a tree?" He smiled. "Actually, your whisker marks were bolder and thicker."

'Damn, she saw that, that just another thing to explain.' "You had some questions for me, what are they?"

"It's not the time for this."

"It's the perfect time, we're not going anywhere."

She sighed. 'I don't want to bring up Mizuki just yet, that one thing seemed to hurt him the most.' "The night you named Minato, I got the impression that you hate Yondaime, do you hate him?"

"No, I don't hate him. He is however, the reason I am what I am. I could never hate him because his decision protected the village, for that I respect him, despite the pain it caused." The confusion she felt was written clearly on her face. "Do you remember the stories of how the Nine-tailed fox was killed?" She nods. "They're lies. He couldn't kill it, no human can. Instead, he sealed it away. Unfortunately, there's only one container strong enough to hold a demon, a human body. They chose to use an infant because its chakra flows wouldn't have developed fully as an adult's would be. They did this so that the two chakras would mix together and, hopefully, when the child died, the fox would too."

"That's inhuman, even for the sake of an entire village! What kind of person would give their child for something like that?!"

"No one. They used an orphan and sealed it in its navel."

She looked him in the eyes and then hers widened. "That's what you stopped Sasuke from telling me, they sealed it in you." His head dropped. "That explains why your chakra source is different from everyone else's. How long have you known?"

"Since the night of the genin graduation, Mizuki told me. Anyone who is old enough to remember the attack knows what really happened. I was looked upon with fear and hatred for twelve years without knowing why. When I found out, it only strengthen my determination to become Hokage and show those bastards that I am not that demon they all believe me to be."

"So no one else our age knows about this?" He shook his head. "How could they keep this secret?"

"Sandaime placed a law that no one was to tell the future generations, especially me, or even speak of it for that matter. It didn't really help, the kids hated me because they saw how their parents acted around me. Iruka saved me in more than one way, if he hadn't been there for me, I may have ended up like Gaara."

"Does it have to do with what you said about almost going too far to protect someone?"

"Yes. I can tap into the fox's chakra, and every time, it drives me to kill, but twice, I had almost gave into that urge. The first time was against Haku, he was a mist ninja with deadly accuracy. He gave Sasuke the appearance of death when he stepped in front of me to take the needles Haku threw. That was the first time I used the fox's power and I landed a hard blow to the mask he wore. I was about to finish him when it fell, revealing him as the person I had met in the forest that morning. He asked me to kill him, because he was no longer useful to a man that didn't seem to give a rat's ass about him, and he died protecting the same man from Kakashi. The man died anyway at Haku's side."

"The second was Gaara. When the invasion started, he and his sibling ran off, Sasuke went after him, with Sakura, Shikamaru, Pakkun and I behind him. When we caught up, Gaara trapped Sakura to a tree using his sand and the only way to free her was to beat him. He released Shukaku by making himself fall asleep and with Gamabunta's help I woke him up. We were both exhausted, and I had to tap into it again to continue. If Sasuke hadn't told me that Sakura was free, I might have killed him. Which would have been a shame, because now, he's a pretty good friend of mine." He smiled slightly.

"Can I change them now?"

Naruto was shocked to say the least. 'Even though she knows, she's still worried about me?' "There's just one more thing, because of the Kyuubi, I heal a hell of a lot faster than anyone. There's a good possibility that my injuries are gone or at least not as severe."

She reached for the bandages again, and this time he didn't protest. She removes them, starting with the arm. " Holy shit, you weren't kidding. The slice on your arms gone and there's not even a scar!" She removed the rest and gasped at his shoulder. "It looks it the kunai barely punctures the skin. Try moving your arm."

He raised it above his head, turned it over, and lifted his weights off the ground. "How fast can we get back to Konoha?"

"About two months if we go straight back walking, maybe a week and a half tree hopping, why?"

He smiled widely. "There're some things that I need to take care of."

They made their way back to Konoha, stopping just before dark and once for supplies. It had taken a little longer than two and a half months because they had gotten a little lost, and Naruto's weights slowed him down a bit.

"It's almost April now, we've been gone nearly half a year already."

"You should go see your family, and if you want to ask to be taken off this 'assignment' I'll understand."

"Naruto, in case you've forgotten, there is still something I want to tell you." They had just gotten through the gate and Hinata ran off smiling.

Naruto slowly made his way to Sakura's house, mainly because he had just added to the weight that morning. He had no more he could add now. When he finally made it to her house, he knocked and almost as soon as he did, he heard yelling from inside.

She threw open the door without even looking to see who had knocked. "Kiba, I swear if this is another of your jokes, I'm gonna… Naruto?" She stared at him stunned. 'It's a miracle, he's not wearing orange.'

"Hi Sakura. Can I come in?"

"Of course Naruto." She led him into the living room, Arashi leaped quietly to the floor as they entered. "I thought you said you'd be gone for three years?"

"I did, but I have a reason for my early home coming."

Her face light up as he spoke. "Is Sasuke with you?"

It was the happiest he had seen her since Sasuke's defection. "Sorry, but he got away again." Her heart sank. "He did however, ask me to give you something." He reached into his pocket. As he handed it to her, her smile returns, but not as brightly. "He said only you would be able to open it."

She had already ripped the envelope open and as she read the letter, her smile grew. When she finished reading, she looked up at Naruto. "Naruto, would you like to know what it says?"

"Seriously?" She nods and hands it to him. He, of course, takes it looking confused, and begins to read the letter he carried for almost three months.

_Dear Sakura,_

_No doubt that Naruto is standing there. If you want to, you can let him read this or tell him. It doesn't matter to me as long as you read it first. If he brought you this, it means that we fought again without determining who is stronger, if either of us even is. I know it may not mean much not coming for me in person, but I want to say I'm sorry for what I did the night I left. There I something that I wanted to tell you then, Naruto probably knows why I didn't by now, I love you too. After I've gotten my revenge, if you'll still have me, I would like to try and make amends and start a relationship with you. Once again, I'm sorry that I'm not there in person._

_Naruto, if you ever read this, thank you. I'm sure that in our last fight you said some things that I will think long and hard about._

_With love, (To Sakura not Naruto)_

_Sasuke_

Naruto hands the letter back to Sakura and watches as Minato climbs the side of the chair she's sitting in. He reaches the top and licks her arm, making her jump and Naruto burst out laughing. "He a friend of yours?"

"Yeah, he's an orphan and I adopted him. His name's Minato."

"You have a weird sense of humor Naruto." She smiled at him and soon after, she remembered a question she had planned on asking him when he first got here. "Do you know where Hinata disappeared to? Kiba's been trying to convince me that she was alone with you on a mission. Come to think though, he knew how long you were going to be gone."

Naruto face was one of pure shock. "She actual told him? I guess I owe her dinner."

Sakura's face mirrored his. "He wasn't lying?" Naruto shook his head and she started to laugh hysterically. "Ino's gonna kill me."

"Why?"

"You're not the only one who lost a bet today."

"You didn't."

"I did. I told him that if he were right I'd help him get a date with Ino."

Naruto started laughing again, harder than before. "Shouldn't be too hard."

Sakura wasn't laughing anymore. "What are you talking about?"

Naruto looked shocked. "Wait, you don't remember?"

"Remember what?"

He couldn't help it, he laughed out right. "You must have gotten just as wasted if you don't remember." She looked really pissed, so Naruto spit it out. "The two of you went out for drinks, I was in the same bar with Ero-sennin. She got really drunk and blurted out that she had a thing for Kiba." She looked shocked. "How can you not remember that? I was drinking for an hour before you showed up and was there until after you left and I still remember."

She was smiling, but stopped talking about that subject. "Is there something else you wanted?"

Naruto stopped laughing. "Actually, I wanted to ask you a question."

"Really, like what?"

"I want you to tell me honestly, do you think that Hinata likes me? I mean as more than a friend."

He blushed slightly and she smiled slyly. "Why, do you have feelings for her?"

"I don't know, it's just that since we left, she hasn't really acted like herself. She hasn't stuttered once, she hasn't fainted, and on one occasion, she held my hand."

"You're right, that doesn't sound like her. I wonder what could've caused such a drastic change?"

"I have been too, and since the run in with Sasuke…"

"Wait, she was there when you fought Sasuke?"

"No, I asked her to leave, I didn't want her to be caught in the crossfire. She came back after the fight ended and save me from bleeding to death." He caught her scared glare. "I'm fine. It wasn't really that bad, it was just that I was unconscious and one cut didn't want to stop bleeding. It was my own fault anyway, I got caught off guard, he used some weird version of Chidori, said it didn't kill only paralyzed, but it still hurt like hell."

Minato had moved from the armrest to Sakura's lap and was curled happily while being pet. "Hey Sakura, do you know where Kiba lives, I have a question for him regarding the little one in your lap."

"Unfortunately for me, he moved in next door after the chunin exams, said something about life with his sister."

"I think I met her before, if she's the one I'm think of, I'm surprised he lasted as long as he did." She laughed and he just smiled. "Anyways, thanks for telling me, even if you didn't answer my question."

She ignored the last part. "Your welcome. After all, you gave me the best news I've gotten since Tsunade decided to take me on as her apprentice."

"I think you've spent a little too much time with Baa-san, you've started picking up on her bad gambling skills."

"The same could be said about you, lets not forget that you lost a bet to Hinata. Hmm, I wonder what sort of things you've picked up from Jiraiya."

"I'm no pervert, but I got a few things I can blackmail him and Baa-san with. Hey look, there's one thing I picked up from right there."

"Like what?"

"Nope, I'm not telling." Minato jumped from Sakura's lap and climbed his way back to Naruto's shoulders. He left Sakura's house, and he could already hear Akamaru barking. "Well, at least I know he's home."

**Chidori- One Thousand Birds**


	7. Chapter 7

When Naruto knocked, Kiba threw open the door and when he saw him, he stood there shocked. 'I'm probably the last person he thought he'd see.'

"Naruto, you're not supposed to be back for another two and a half years."

Naruto chuckled. "Sorry to disappoint you, but there were a few things I had to take care of that couldn't wait that long. Would you mind if we talked inside?" Kiba didn't really answer, but moved away from the door and went to sit on the couch.

Naruto walked in and closed the door behind him. "First off, I want to congratulate you on winning your bet with Sakura, I just told her Hinata really was with me."

Kiba smiled. "There's some good news, I thought I would have to wait, by the time you would've got back, she could have already found a boyfriend."

Naruto smiled. 'Not likely;' "That's not the only reason I'm here though, I have a question for you."

"What is it?"

"How is it that you can understand Akamaru?"

"I'm not really sure. My family has always used dog partners, and I've had him as long as I can remember. It could just be a bond we share, or it might be a blood trait."

Naruto listened quietly, but was distracted by something that had him smiling. "Minato, I wouldn't do that, Akamaru has a mean bite."

Kiba turned to look as the young fox crept up to Akamaru. "You brought a fox kit back with you?"

"He's an orphan, if I had left him, he wouldn't have survived."

The young fox seemed to have gotten too close because Akamaru chased him back to Naruto. "Knock it off Akamaru, he just wanted to say hello. Sorry, he's got this thing about foxes."

"It's alright, I wouldn't have expected anything less, dogs and foxes haven't ever really got along." He eye caught the clock hanging on the wall. "Shit, I got to go. I still have to talk to Baa-san, and find Hinata to get supplies." Kiba looked confused. "She doesn't trust me to get them myself. The last time she let me, I only brought ramen and tea."

Kiba laughed. "How pathetic, you need someone's help to go grocery shopping. Did she help you pick out your clothes too?"

"No, luckily for me, she seems to enjoy clothes shopping as much as other girls and ran off when we got inside." He shrugged. "Apparently, she and Kakashi don't think I can live only on ramen, they say I need to eat vegetables. I had lived on only ramen for years before becoming a genin. See ya later Kiba."

Naruto left Kiba's house, and Kiba just sat there on his couch. 'I wonder if she told him yet?'

His thoughts were interrupted by another knock o his door. After his last guest, he had a fairly good idea of who it was. He opened the door and before he could say hello, she spoke up. "You didn't tell him did you?"

"Hello Hinata. No I didn't tell him, but I should have. That was our deal."

He moved to let her in. "I know, but I didn't expect to be back so soon. I'm going to tell him, but I think he may already know."

"Why, he didn't seem to have a clue before."

"When we were having lunch a few months ago, he said he realized something he should have sooner. The next day he told me something about himself that he had never told anyone, not even Sasuke and Sakura."

"Maybe he does, if he trusts you with a secret so important to him that he wouldn't even tell his teammates. So, what is it?"

"Sorry Kiba, but it's up to him who knows."

"Whatever. Why are you guys back, he said some bullshit about having things to do."

"Well, that's part of it, but we also wanted to see a few people that we missed while we were gone. Did he say where he was going when he left?"

"Yeah, to talk to the Hokage and look for you to get supplies, why?"

A blush crept Hinata's face. "I'm meeting him for lunch. He didn't say where we going, but he said it wouldn't be ramen. And that's saying something, that's basically all he eats any other time." She was just about to leave when she ran up to him and gave him a hug. "Thank you, your advice helped a lot."

"Tsunade is expecting you, but is in a meeting with Jiraiya at the moment."

'Nothing gets past her.' "Good, he needs to hear this too. Thanks Shizune."

"No problem Naruto."

He knocks on the door to her office and hears a 'Come in' before walking in. As he enters, he hit hard on the head.

"What the hell was that for Ero-sennin?"

"For what you did before you left."

"You deserved that!"

Tsunade steps between the two of them. "Why are you back so soon Naruto?"

He shot a glare full of malice towards his teacher. "I ran into Sasuke, and he said some things that I thought you would like to know about."

Tsunade moved around her desk and sat down. "Like what?"

"Orochimaru told him about Kyuubi and someone in the village is keeping tabs on me for him. Sasuke's modified Chidori again, he calls it Chidori Nagashi, it paralyzes instead of killing, and hurts like hell. He also asked me to give a letter to Sakura, it was to apologize to her." He saw them both staring at him and knew what they were thinking.

"Yes, we fought again, how else do you think I found out the damn thing hurts. He used it at the end of our fight and used the opening it gave him to pin me to a tree with a kunai through the shoulder. Because of that, I owe Hinata my life and I had to tell her about Kyuubi. I was planning on telling her that night anyway, but until that point, I could have made something up. I still could have, but she would have known something was up when I was completely fine in three days, and she saw me when I was transformed."

Minato dropped to the floor, but only Naruto noticed. "So, how did she take it?"

Naruto smiled. "Surprisingly well."

Jiraiya started to laugh and Tsunade looked over at him. "I think someone wants to say hello Tsunade." A stack of papers topples over revealing the fox kit and she glares at Naruto.

"He's an orphan, and when I found him, he couldn't take care of himself yet. So I decided to keep him, I named him Minato."

This time he received an icy glare from Jiraiya. "Why?!"

"He's special, he's not even a year old and he can run on water. In fact his chakra control is slightly less than mine." He noticed the dumbfounded looks on their faces. "Even Kyuubi finds his progress astounding. He likes to play, and one of the times he was running and I saw him move across the water surface."

"He is special."

"Sorry to cut the meeting short, but I got to go, there are still things to do before we leave." She picks up the fox and hands him to Naruto. He gets to the door before he remembers something he had wanted to ask. "Hey Baa-san, would it be alright if we went to the Land of Waves? I promised a young boy there I visit."

"The Land of Waves?" He nods. "You went there on your first non-D-rank mission correct? Escorting the bridge builder."

"That's the one."

"That will be fine, but tell me, do you know what they named that bridge?" He shook his head. "It's the Great Naruto Bridge. Apparently, you made quite the impression. I'm even going to make an acceptation this once, you can stay there for a week." He couldn't help but smile.

Hinata was waiting for him outside the office. "I owe you dinner."

She smiled. "It doesn't have to be dinner, it can be lunch."

"As happy as you are, Kiba's happier. Because you won our bet, he won the one he made with Sakura."

"What would that be?"

"I could tell you, but I think I should wait till lunch. That way by the time we leave tonight everyone will know."

"If you want to, but he might get mad and start a rumor about you."

"You didn't tell him did you?"

"No, of course not, but he might make up something about why you're trying so hard to bring back Sasuke."

"Like what?" She walks over and whispers into his ear.** (A/N I'll let you guess what she tells him.)** His eyes widen with horror. "Everyone knows we hate each other."

"Well, everyone also knows about that incident in class."

"That was an accident and someone pushed me."

"Doesn't mean Kiba won't use it, you know how big of a gossip he is."

"Fine, I guess I tell you here." He whispers into her ear and her smile grows. Before Naruto finishes, Minato moves to Hinata's shoulders.

"Really? And he tells me to confess my feelings."

"Yeah, bet Ino's gonna be more surprised."

"Why?"

He looked around to make sure no one was around. "She won't admit it to anyone, but Sakura and her got drunk once and Ino told her she kind like him."

"How would you know?"

"I was there, and it helps to be friends with the biggest gossips in the village. You just have to be careful about what you say and do around them. I got caught up on all that's happened since we left, I'll tell you once we leave, don't know if someone's watching. Baa-san said it would be all right for us to go to see Inari. She also told me what they called the bridge, but I want it to be a surprise. I'll tell you over lunch."

"Lead the way."


	8. Chapter 8

As they walked down the street, Hinata cradled Minato in her arms. "Um… Naruto, this place we're going, is it any good?"

"I don't really know, I've never eaten there before."

"Then how do you know about it?"

"Kakashi told me about it. Said that when I got a girlfriend to take her there, but it should be fine for a celebration."

"And what are we celebrating exactly?"

He turned to her with a fox-like grin. "Being home, no matter for how short a time." She returned his smile, but couldn't help but think there was something he wasn't telling her.

The restaurant was called Aoiro Gesshoku. It was a fairly new building, no older than three years, it had two stories, the first had a bar and the second had a balcony with tables that had a great view of the Hokage Monument. Naruto asked for one of these tables and as they ate, he told Hinata about his meeting with Tsunade and Jiraiya.

"You must have done something really important for them to name the bridge after you."

"Not really, I just helped them find the courage they once had. Don't get me wrong, it's an honor they chose my name, but I think they should have chosen Inari. He was the one who got everyone to stand up for themselves."

"They named it after you because you gave them the courage to do it, like you did for me when I fought Neji. Come to think of it, you give a lot of people courage and still have more than enough for everyone else in this village."

"I get it from the desire to protect the people I care about. Nothing can extinguish that fire. The death of even one will add fuel to the fire and I'll try harder to make sure it doesn't happen again." She saw that he was dead serious, and she smiled even though they both knew even he couldn't prevent death.

The server came back to the table. "Would you like anything else today?"

"I fine, how about you Hinata?"

"I couldn't eat another bite."

Naruto turns back to the server. "I guess that's it, thank you."

"Alright, here's your bill. You pay for this at the bar downstairs whenever you're ready."

He bowed and was about to leave when Naruto stopped him. "You're such a great server, that here's a tip." He pulled several bills out of his wallet and handed them to the man.

The man looked at the money in his hand, wide eyed. "I appreciate it sir, but I can't in good conscience except such a large amount."

"I insist. You deserve that money. You're a hard worker and a good hearted person"

The man bowed again. "Thank you sir." He left the two sitting there.

Naruto had a large smile when he turned to see Hinata looking a little confused. "How much did you give him?"

"200 ryo."

"How much do you have left? We need that to get supplies and other things for the next two and a half years."

He laughed. "Don't worry Hinata, I still have over three fourths of the money Baa-san gave us before we left."

Down the road from the restaurant, on the roof of a shop, sat the remaining members of the rookie nine, Jiraiya, Kakashi, and Kurenai. Kurenai looked over at Kakashi. "Did you tell him about that place?"

"Yes, I told him to take his girlfriend there."

Shikamaru looked bored. "You would think that the name would be enough for him to know that it's a couples place. Man he's dense."

Kiba, who told everyone what was going on, smiled. "Maybe he does know. Hinata said that she thought he knew. The main reason is because he told her something about himself that he's never told anyone. She wouldn't even tell me what."

The jonins' eyes widened and the two of them thought the same thing. 'He told her about Kyuubi.' Jiraiya just kept smiling.

"He asked if I thought she liked him in that way when he visited me earlier."

Ino was getting curious now. "What did you tell him?"

"I didn't answer the question, I asked if he had feelings for her." Everyone looked at her. "He said he wasn't sure, but that she was acting differently since they left. Apparently she hasn't stuttered or fainted at all, once she even held his hand."

They were all shocked. Kiba was the first to recover. "It seems that what I told her did help out quite a bit." They were all looking at him now. "I suggested a way to calm herself down when she started getting nervous around him." 'Still, I didn't think it help that much, something big must have happened to change her that much. Maybe she really will tell him.' "Come on guys, chances are he doesn't know, because if he did there is no doubt in my mind that he would have at least kissed once during all that time, even if he did know we were here."

"What a drag, we came out here from nothing." Shikamaru stood up and left with Choji on his heels.

"Time to get back to my research. Kakashi, care to join me?" Kakashi's eye widened and nodded eagerly before both disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Perverts. I guess I'll be going too."

Kurenai turned to leave when Ino walked over. "Say hi to Asuma-sensei for me." Ino smirked when a blush crept across Kurenai's face as she leapt from the roof.

Sakura stood up and smiled at Kiba while Ino's back was turned. "I gotta get back to the hospital, Godaime will be wondering where I went." She hadn't told either of them that they liked each other. 'It's up to them to tell each other. If I could do that, I would have told Naruto a long time ago.'

Ino was about to leave as well when Kiba stopped her. "Ino, I was wondering if you would like to get something to eat with me?"

"You mean like a date?"

"I would like it to be, but if you don't want to, I understand."

"Actually, that would be nice. I don't think that I've ever told anyone this, but I've had feeling for you since the Chunin Exams." She was blushing.

"Really, I had feeling for you since the academy." They both smiled at each other. "What did you mean by 'I don't think'?"

"I may have let it slip to Sakura and anyone else around, but I can't really remember because of how drunk I was. Sakura might not remember either, she drank more than I did."

'Sakura remembers, that's why she left so fast.' Ino looks embarrassed and Kiba laughs. "It's nice to know that you can go wild when you want to."

"You don't know the half of it." She walks over to him and whispers into his ear.** (Once again, use your imagination.)** His eyes go wider than Lee's, but his smile remains. Blood streams from his nose and he does everything he can to not faint, while she steps back and giggles at the look on his face.

"Damn, if I had known that I would have asked you out sooner." He picked her up bridal style and took off away from Naruto and Hinata.

Naruto was looking over the rail of the balcony and was smiling while Hinata looked at him with wonder. "What is it Naruto?"

"Well, we had an audience during our meal. The remaining Rookie Nine and our senseis were watching from down the road."

"They were?"

"Yeah, but they all left, and it seems that Kiba and Ino are together now."

"Really, that was fast."

"At least I think it was them. They were pretty far away, but the last two left, one in the other's arms, and our senseis left before them. Sakura is still after Sasuke, and Ino has a thing for Kiba, it stands to reason that it was them."

"Wow Naruto, you thought that out quite well."

Naruto does a mock pout. "That's not very nice Hinata. I can be thoughtful when I want to be."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, I sorted through all the things Sakura told me and I figured out which were true."

"Do tell."

"Alright, Shikamaru and Temari from Suna are seeing each other, but haven't told Gaara or Kankuro. Which is understandable, seeing as how both might try to kill him. Your sensei, Kurenai and Asuma are unofficially together, and you can't tell me you haven't noticed that one. Every time I see one of them the other isn't far away."

"So, they could be just friends."

"Even the best of friends don't spend every available day together."

"Neither do lovers."

"Some do. There was the Kiba and Ino thing, and then there's the most obvious one, Neji and Tenten. The most interesting one though, is the one that took me the longest to determine as true."

"Now I'm really interested. Tell me, who are these two love birds."

"Actually, we know them better than most people." Naruto was getting nervous, but he resisted the urge to scratch the back of his head, instead he clenched and unclenched his fist under the table.

Hinata was feeling the same way. 'Did he really figure it out, or is he talking about someone else?'

'How should I do this?'

'**Would you like my opinion Kit?'**

'Couldn't hurt, but that doesn't mean I'll follow it.'

'**Tell her it's a secret, and move over like you're going to whisper it to her and kiss her. Then you tell her how you feel about her.'**

'That's actually a good idea, and if we're wrong about how she feels, at most, I get beaten and she thinks I'm perverted. I take back what I said before Kyuubi, thank you.' Naruto looked around the restaurant and then back to Hinata. "It's kind of a secret, but I'll tell you." He walked around the table and she blushed when he stopped in front of her.

He offered her his hand, which she took, and pulled her to her feet. 'His hand is rough, but it's also soft and warm in a way.' Once on her feet, their faces were inches apart and Naruto still hadn't let go of her hand.

It happened so fast Hinata thought she must be dreaming. Naruto had pressed his lips to hers passionately, and once over her shock, she returned it with the same passion. When their lips parted, they were both breathless, but Naruto managed to speak. "Hinata, I love you, and I believe you feel the same about me."

"I do. I always have, but I never thought you would notice." Tears welled up in her eyes.

"I sorry I made you wait so long Hinata. Please don't be sad."

"I'm not sad, I'm happy that you're returning my feelings. I feared that you might never feel the same about me as I do you."

"Well, you don't have to fear that anymore, I will always love you Hinata." He kissed her again and smiled at her when he broke it. She couldn't keep the tears from falling, but Naruto wiped them from her cheeks with his thumb and she smiled back. "Sorry about cutting this short, but we still have to get some supplies, and I was wondering if you knew where a weapon shop was, I've never had to go to one before."

Hinata laughed a little. "Tenten's family owns one."

"That would explain all those weapons I suppose. Would you mind if we went there before going for the rest of the supplies?"

"Not at all, but first you have to pay for our meal."

They made their way down stairs and over to the bar to pay their bill. Once they did, they left and walked down the street holding hands. "Hey Naruto."

"Yes Hinata?"

"How long have you known about the way I feel about you?"

"Since the day we saw Sasuke, right after you came out of the bathhouse. Afterwards, I felt incredibly stupid. I had a goddess in front of me the whole time and still, I chased after the affections of someone who could never feel the same way for me as you do."

"If you knew, why didn't you say something?"

"I figured you wanted to tell me. I decide to give you a chance to, but if you didn't by the end of the first year I was going to tell you. In fact, I was planning on telling you on your birthday."

"You're half a year early, why?"

"We were coming home, and I remembered that restaurant. I couldn't think of a better place to tell you than the most popular couples restaurant in the Land of Fire." He smiled from ear to ear.

She smiled. "You knew what that place was the whole time huh."

"Of course, Kakashi told me to take my girlfriend there, I heard plenty of girls here in the village talk about it, but the name alone was more than enough to figure out what that place was. I would have had to be really fucking stupid to not know. But that could have been possible, after all, I didn't see how you felt for such a long time."


	9. Chapter 9

Tenten's family shop** (A/N Sorry, I couldn't think of a name.)** was about as big as most of the other shops in Konoha, so it was a decent size, about as big as a house. Tenten sat behind counter reading a magazine when the two of them walked in. She smiled when she saw that they were holding hands. "About time! So what, you going door to door to tell everyone?"

They both blushed. "No, I need to get a few things. We don't have much time before we have to leave again and we still have to get food supplies."

"Is that so, then what can I get for you?"

"I need some more weights, I ran out, so I can't add anymore."

"Are you insane?! If you brought a normal set of weights, you could easily out run Lee!"

"I know, but I want to increase my stamina to the point I can fight for hours without getting tired."

"You are insane! Whatever, it you money, but I want to make a suggestion. We got a new item, you push chakra into them and the more you put in the more they weigh. And there's no limit of how much weight you can have on."

"Sounds good, but what can I do with the weights I already have?"

"Give them to me and I'll take a fourth off the price of the chakra weights." Naruto looked confused. "We can always use them for materials if they're in no condition to resell."

"Thanks Tenten." Naruto turns to Hinata. "Is there anything else we should get while we're here?"

"Not that I can think of."

"Okay, then why don't you go and start getting the other supplies, when I'm done buying these, I'll catch up. We'll eat some dinner before we leave too."

"Okay." She turned to Tenten. "Good luck with Neji." Hinata giggles, as Tenten turns red. She leaves and Naruto walks over to the counter.

Naruto looked to see if Hinata had really left and when he was sure, he turned to Tenten. "Do you carry kenjutsu scrolls?"

"Yeah, but why would you want them? You've never struck me as a swordsman."

He shrugged. "I want to learn. A sword would give me an increased reach and with the speed I've obtained not many people could defend themselves."

"That's for sure, so what kind of sword were you thinking?"

"Actually, I would like one for a Zanbato."

"A Zanbato huh, those are hard to come by."

"Really, then it's a good thing I know where to get one."

He took off his weights and laid them on the counter. Tenten's jaw dropped. "How the hell can you lift those with one hand?!"

"I'm use to the weight, that's why I need more." He paid for his items and put the scroll into his bag before putting on the weights. He read the instruction so he could place the right amount into them.

He was about to active them, when Tenten stopped him. "What are you doing? Do that outside, you might break something in here!" She followed him outside and watched as he put his chakra into them. He felt something surge inside of him as red chakra ran through his system. He cut the connection, but it was too late and his face smashed into the ground.

Kyuubi rolled around in his cell laughing his ass off. 'DAMN YOU, YOU FUCKING FOX!!'

Tenten was laughing too. "See, this is why I told you to come out here. You over did it as usual." Naruto released the stored up chakra and started again, putting only small amounts in at a time so the fox couldn't interfere again. "There you go. Now go catch up with Hinata, she'll probably be worried if you don't meet her soon."

"You're right, but that's not the reason you want me leave. You just want to go see Neji and can't if someone at the shop." He smirked, as she turned red again. She starts reaching for the two scrolls strapped to her back.

"Now, now, Tenten, you know he's right." Neji came walking up behind her. "Naruto, you should hurry, I just saw Hinata in the market and she didn't look very pleased."

'We haven't even bee going out for a day and we going to have our first fight.' "Thanks Neji." He walked past the two of them and waved over his shoulder. "Play nice you two!"

'Where the hell is he?' Hinata had finished getting the supplies they needed and was sitting on a stone bench with Minato in her lap, curled into a ball.

"Hinata!" She looked and saw Naruto running toward her. He stopped next to the bench, his hands on his knees and bending over, breathing hard. "Sorry I'm late. The bastard thought it would be funny if he pushed a large amount of chakra into the weights when I put them on. Tenten would help me up either."

All the anger that Hinata was feeling disappeared and she started to laugh. Naruto couldn't help but smile. Hinata moved Minato next to her on the bench and stood up. She grabbed Naruto's hand and pulled him into a passionate kiss that lasted several minutes.

When they broke apart, Naruto was speechless. 'Damn, when the hell did she become so aggressive? Oh well, I'm not complaining.' "So, you forgive me?"

"Umm, no." She feigned a look of anger.

Naruto knew she was faking it, but decide to play along. "Come on Hinata, I said I was sorry. If you're so mad why did you kiss me?"

"So you knew what you were missing." She gave him a sadistic smile that put Anko's to shame.

He shuddered and her smile grew. "Come with me, there's something I want to show you." He picked up the young fox and took her hand in his.

He led her to the top of the Hokage Monument. "Hop on to my back, and hold on to Minato." She did so and when he was sure she was on, he started walking down the side of the cliff. After a few minutes, they stood on top of one of the Hokage's head. "Be sure to keep a hold of him, don't want him to accidentally fall."

He sat down and she did the same. "It's so beautiful."

"This is one of my favorite spots, I can see the whole village from here. Oh, I forgot to tell you, you're sitting on Yondaime's head."

"Why did you bring me here?"

"I wanted to show you this." He waved his arm in front of him. "This spot is so peaceful, I feel at ease here, something that only one other thing has ever done."

"What else?"

"It's you. You make me feel so happy just being near me. I don't know how to explain it, but it's something I don't want to live without."

"Naruto…"

He stopped her with a kiss. When he pulled away he stared into her eyes. "Hinata, I said that I love you, and I meant it. I'll do anything to prove it to you, just tell me what you want me to do."

She laid her head against his chest. "There is nothing you could ever do that would make me believe you more than I do right now." He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. They sit there watching the sunset, unaware of the two sliver haired men watching them.

"Looks like he really did know. I never felt so proud of the brat as I do now."

"Jiraiya, why are we following these two? No matter how much Hinata likes him, she won't do anything more than they already are and Naruto probably wouldn't even think about doing that kind of stuff yet."

Jiraiya sighs. "I need to tell you something, but you can't tell the brat or Tsunade, that's my job. It's about Naruto parents."

Kakashi's visible eye widened. "You know who they are?"

"Yes, sensei knew as well, but believed for his safety, no one should be told. Even if the old man hadn't died, I planned to tell him."

"Sandaime knew, Naruto's not going to be happy about that. Who are they?"

"If you yell, they find us, so be quiet. His mother was Tsunade's best friend, actually they were more like sister's, Kushina Uzumaki." Kakashi's eye becomes as large as a dinner plate.

"But that would mean…"

"That's right. She doesn't know it, but he's our godson and his son." Kakashi smiled and damn near fainted from shock. "She doesn't even know Kushina got married, much less had a kid. Still, she'll probably take the news better than he will. He's going to be pissed that we kept this from him, what's worse is that Orochimaru knows."

Tsunade sat at her desk looking over the paperwork that has built up. She picks up a single piece of paper and smiles. "Shizune, has Naruto left yet?"

"Not that I'm aware of."

"Could you go get him, there's something that we need to discuss."

"Yes ma'am." Shizune leave the room and Tsunade smiled before reaching into her desk drawer to pull out a bottle of sake and a cup.

The sun had set and darkness filled the streets of Konoha. Naruto and Hinata were approaching the gates when Shizune came running up to them. "Naruto, I'm glad I caught you. Tsunade wants to speak with you before you leave."

'I spoke to her this morning, I wonder what's happened.' "Thanks Shizune." He turned to Hinata. "Well, I guess our trip going to have to wait a bit." He smiled and they started toward the Hokage tower with Shizune.

"What's up Baa-san?" They had just walked into the office and then he noticed she was sleeping. "Damn it, she's been drinking. Well, anyone want to try and wake her up?" Shizune had a scared look on her face. "Fine. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

A popping sound and puff of smoke later and a clone walked over to Tsunade with the same expression as Shizune. It barely touched Tsunade's shoulder and then went flying toward the wall. There was another pop and it disappeared.

"Why did you wake me up?"

"You were the one who said you wanted to talk, so don't blame me."

"Naruto, you mind toning it down a bit." She noticed that he had his arm around Hinata and smiled. "About time you found a girlfriend brat. I was beginning to worry that the pervert corrupted you. You also finally noticed her."

He just grinned stupidly. 'Did everyone but me know?!'

'**Probably, it was pretty obvious.'**

'Fuck you bastard! You could have told me at anytime.'

'It's not my problem if you're too dense to see what's in front of your face.'

"Naruto, you all right?"

"Sorry, the bastard decided he wanted to talk too. So what's up Baa-san?"

"The Kazekage has asked that you go to Suna. The request didn't mention why, but if he needs you to do something, stay as long as you're needed."

"Cool, I can catch up with Gaara while I'm there."

"I'm sure you'll see him. Hinata, you are to go too, after you're done there you will continue you training mission understood."

"Understood."

"Good. I'll allow you a stay in the village for tonight, you have a long trip tomorrow."

"Thanks Baa-san." They leave her office and head outside. Naruto knew that since they were staying for the night that he be separated from Hinata, but wanted to delay it as long as possible. "Hinata, you want me to walk you home."

"Actually, I told them I'd be leaving again, so they won't be expecting me."

"You could stay at my apartment. It's kind of small, but I promise I won't do anything." He smiled. "Unless you want me to."

She blushed. "You sure you don't mind?"

"Of course not, but there won't be much to eat there. After six months hardly anything will be any good. Besides, Minato likes to sleep by you, and I don't think many hotel accept pets." They start towards Naruto's apartment.

"You were wrong Kakashi, it seems that he has thought about it. Not a word of this to Tsunade, she'd kill us for not stopping them."

Kakashi wasn't really listening, he was still trying to process what he had found out a few hours before. "I thought he looked like sensei, but it never crossed my mind that he was his son."

"Tsunade will say the same thing when I tell her, after she kills me for not telling her sooner."

"Why the hell would sensei use his own son as the container?"

"I honestly don't know, but he must have had a damn good reason."

"You need to tell at least him soon, I could care less how long you wait to tell Tsunade, but he deserves to know."

"I know, but with him leaving tomorrow it's going to be difficult."

"You're a Sannin, you could go with him."

"Unfortunately, I can't. If I left Orochimaru would take advantage of it and attack. He knows that he can't defeat us both, but with Tsunade still a little hemophobic, it wouldn't be difficult to beat her when she's by herself."

"I know it's not much to look at, but it's livable." 'Barely.'

As if reading his mind Hinata looked up at him, concern written on her face. "How can you stand living here?"

"I've gotten use to it, I've lived here for as long as I can remember. I know I lived at the orphanage for a little while, but I don't remember anything of that part of my life. Maybe that's a good thing though."

"It still not right for you to have to live in such conditions."

"I really don't mind, I fixed up mine and the inside looks a lot better." He opens the door and she gasped. "What?"

"You don't even lock your door?"

He chuckled. "No body comes out this way, a lot of the buildings are condemned. Most of them were almost completely destroyed in the fox's attack and the villagers only rebuilt so much. In fact between Gamabunta and Kyuubi, I surprised even half of these buildings are still standing." He stepped through the doorway and Hinata followed him. The first room was a kitchen, dinning room, and living room put together. There was a small table, a couch, a TV, and the bare minimal essentials of a kitchen. "The bathroom's connected to the bedroom. Like I said, it's kind of small."

"That's an understatement. It's no wonder you run around so much."

"You can take the bed."

"It's you house, you should have the bed."

"It's big enough that we could both sleep on it." She blushed. "I already told you, I wouldn't do anything unless you want me to." She slowly nodded and he smiled. "Now that that's settled, we should get some sleep. It'll take about a week to get to Suna."

He leads her through the only other door in his apartment and goes into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. She removes the over coat revealing a black tee shirt and crawls into the bed. She looks around the room, it's surprisingly neat and about half the size of the other room with far less furniture. Other then the bed there's a dresser and a small closet. What catches her eye, is that on the dresser there are four pictures, one of which is facedown.

She gets up and moves over to the dresser. One of the pictures was of Naruto, Iruka, and Sandaime at Naruto's favorite restaurant, Ichiraku Ramen Bar. One of the others was of Tsunade, Shizune, Jiraiya, and Naruto, she didn't recognize the place, but figured it was probably from when they went to find Tsunade. The strangest part was that Naruto was wearing a necklace she had never seen before. The last was of Naruto, either unconscious or asleep, covered in bandages, and a young woman kissing him on the cheek. She was a little upset about that till she read what was written on it. _'Thank you for givi__ng me something to believe in again. –Yukie Fujikaze'_

She lifted the facedown picture and stared wide eyed. It was a picture of team seven. Kakashi was in the back with a hand on both Naruto's and Sasuke's heads, while Sakura stood between the boys. "Want to know why?"


	10. Chapter 10

"Want to know why?"

His arms wrapped around her waist and his head placed on her shoulder. "Why what?"

"Why that picture was face down."

"I think I already know." He raised an eyebrow. "He betrayed the village, but most of all he betrayed your trust and what little friendship the two of you had."

"You're right, but there's more. Only Baa-san knows this because she had to, not even Jiraiya and Kakashi know and Sakura can never find out. The first time we tried to bring him back it came down to me against him, he used Chidori on me. He was trying to kill me by shoving it through my heart. I moved, and instead it went through my left lung." Hinata was horrified. "Obviously, the fox healed me, but it made me want to kill him. He was going to kill me for power, after that, any good things I felt towards him were gone. If it weren't from my promise to Sakura, I would just kill him."

"If that's true, then you lied to me the first night out."

"No I didn't, I said I thought of him like a brother, meaning I don't anymore, but after finding out why he did what he did to Sakura, I'm starting to regain some of those feelings. If he were to do anything to you or anyone else precious to me, I wouldn't think twice about killing him, and it will be a while before I can trust him again." He let her go and moved away from her. "I'm going to bed."

He took off his overcoat too and laid down. She placed the picture how she found it and went to join him. She laid down beside him and snuggled up to him. He put his arm around her and she laid her head on his chest. "Naruto, can we do this every night?"

"We're moving kind of fast don't you think. I'm not complaining, but we just started going out and we're already sleeping together."

"Maybe, but I feel so safe like this."

"I don't have a problem with it. In fact I'm enjoying myself quite a bit right now."

She fell asleep on his chest and he did too soon after.

Naruto woke up the next morning and he was alone in the bed. 'Damn, it was a dream.' He heard something in the other room. 'Maybe not.'

'**It was no dream, and I've lost any respect I had for you Kit.'**

'What a shame, and I was trying so hard to impress you.' The sarcasm in his voice was blunt. 'Not that it matters, but what did I do?'

'**You had a female in your bed and didn't mate with her.'**

'What the hell is wrong with you?! We just started dating, and what if she got pregnant, neither of us are ready to be parents.'

'**Just because she **_**could**_** get pregnant, doesn't mean she would. You dwell on the 'what ifs' too much Kit, what if I wasn't sealed in you?'**

'I'd be much happier.'

'**You'd also be dead.'**

'Whatever, I'm not going to do anything until she wants to, and nothing you say will change my mind so drop it.'

Hinata was out in the kitchen area making a breakfast consisting of eggs, bacon, and pancakes. She would glance over towards the bedroom from time to time. 'How long is he going to sleep?'

She went to flip the pancakes when she felt him wrap his arms around her waist and kiss her on the cheek. "Wow, something really smells good out here."

She smiled and continued what she was doing. "It should be done in a minute."

"You must have gone shopping, cause I'm almost positive that I didn't have any of that stuff here before. Even if I did, it wouldn't be any good anymore."

"Yeah, I checked the cupboard, and the only thing that was even edible was the cups of ramen."

"They never go bad, unless you count them getting cold. Hinata, I hope you don't take offense to this, but I never would have thought you knew how to cook."

"Why wouldn't you think I knew how to cook?"

"You sure you want to hear this?" She nodded. "All right, but you asked. First, you're the heiress to one of Konoha most honorable clans and seeing as how your father, actually most of your family, has a complex about what's 'beneath' them, I'm a little surprised they let you. I would also assume that your family has a cook, whether hired or from a branch family." Hinata looked shocked. "Hey, you asked."

"Are these just things you've thought about for a while, or are you really this smart and you just act idiotic around other people?"

"A bit of both, I've thought about it for a while, the cook thing new though. And I do act stupid when other people are around. At first it was to get attention, good or bad, and after while it got to the point where it was expected from me. I probably would have gotten more attention if I didn't act. Oh well, it's the past and it's over, besides I think everything worked out fine don't you?"

"Yeah. And you're right about most of the things you said about my family. We do have a cook, I asked her to teach me, and my father does think it's beneath me to cook. The only thing you were wrong about is me being the heiress, I've been told that it's more likely that Hanabi will lead the clan because she's stronger than I am."

"Don't let them get to you, if I took everything people said to me seriously, I'd probably still be in the academy, if not a drop out. Besides, how do they know she's better than you?"

"I've never won against her."

"Well that's a stupid way of telling. She's your sister, they can't expect you to fight her seriously. You care about her and don't want to hurt her. If those bastards think that's weakness then they got some major fucking issues."

"It doesn't matter if she's my sister, basically, they see compassion as a weakness and weakness is intolerable."

"This started after the fight with Neji didn't it." She nodded again. "After we come back, ask your father and the elders for a chance to prove yourself by fighting him instead of Hanabi. But only if you actually want to be leader of the clan."

"I want to change the clan, no more seals or families, just one family. Only as leader can I do that, screw the elders and tradition, even they wouldn't be able to question my decisions."

"If you want to do it, I say go for it. But you still have a while before you can do anything."

They ate their breakfast in a comfortable silence, well as much silence as Naruto could manage. There was a knock on his door. 'Why does someone always come when I'm eating?' He gets up and walks toward the door. He opens it just as Sakura raises her hand to knock again. "Why is it that you always interrupt breakfast?"

"Breakfast? Naruto, it's almost noon, that's why I'm here, Tsunade is pissed you haven't left yet."

"Damn Baa-san, she knows I'm not a morning person. Hinata, I guess Baa-san wants us to hurry to Suna."

"Hinata's here too?" She hits him on the head. "Naruto, what the hell is wrong with you, I can understand Kiba and Ino but you? You really are taking after that pervert."

"Nothing happened, you can ask her. How the hell did you find out about those two so fast?"

"I saw Ino leave his house this morning."

"Wow, they're moving fast. I don't suppose you've seen Tenten or Neji, but I wouldn't be surprised if Baa-san or Shizune told you."

"Told me what?"

"That Hinata and I are dating now." He smiled ear to ear when her jaw dropped. "I guess you missed that at lunch yesterday."

"You saw us huh?"

"Yeah, your group wasn't hard to miss. Kiba and Ino got together then after you left and once they were gone we did too. So how long did you know?"

"What do you mean?"

"Don't give me that, there's no way that you didn't know. You've got something on just about everyone."

"Fine. I've known for sometime, it's was hard to not see it, I don't know how the hell it took you so long."

"You could have said something."

"It wasn't my place to."

'She get along fine with the fox bastard.' "Whatever, could you tell Baa-san we be leave as soon as we're done repacking. Shouldn't be more than a hour."

"Alright, but she won't be happy."

"Of course not, she'll have paperwork to do. If she's sleeping, don't wake her up, you'll regret it, especially if there's a sake bottle on the desk." She nodded and left.

"We're already packed."

"I know, but this way we can get cleaned up before leaving."

"Alright, but we not sharing this time, and no peeping."

"I'm more worried about you using your Byakugan to peek through walls." She blushed and he started laughing. Naruto let Hinata have the shower first and sat on his bed while he waited for her to finish. 'Hey asshole, how many tails can I handle now?'

**'I would assume six. We won't know until you tries, and I don't know at which point I would take over anymore.'**

'So I might be in control pass the fourth tail?'

**'Maybe, once again we won't know until you tried.'**

Naruto took off the chakra weights and placed them on top of the dresser. He stared at the pictures remembering the conversation from the night before. He slowly picked up the picture of Team Seven. He couldn't help but smile at the memory of the day it was taken.

_Flashback:_

_Sasuke was getting irritated. "Kakashi, what the hell are we doing?"_

_Kakashi didn't look up from his book. "We're going to get a team photo, it's a tradition."_

"_I have better things to do then follow some stupid tradition!" Sasuke tried to walk away, but Kakashi was too fast for him and grab him by the back of the collar._

"_I don't care what you think you have to do, but it can wait! This won't take long and then I don't care what you do!" This was the first time Naruto had seen Kakashi actually get pissed, at least it wasn't directed at him._

_He let go of Sasuke, who was pissed as well. "Whatever, let's get this over with."_

_Sakura was furious with Kakashi for doing that to Sasuke, but the look that he had in his eye stopped her from doing anything but glare at the jonin. "After this, you can go train or whatever else you want to do, but I expect you to meet at the bridge tomorrow at eight." He got no complaints as they continued to walk._

_End of Flashback:_

Naruto was so caught up in his thoughts that he never heard the bathroom door open. "Naruto?"

He wheeled around with the picture still in his hand. "You done Hinata?" She nodded. "Then it's my turn, I'll be out in a bit."

He set the picture back down and walked toward the bathroom. He stopped when Hinata grabbed his hand. "Naruto, that picture of you with Godaime, Shizune, and Jiraiya…"

"What about it?"

"You were wearing a necklace, I was wondering what it was."

He smiled as he reached into his shirt. He pulled it over his head and handed it to her. "Baa-san used it as a wager in a bet she made me. It belonged to her grandfather Shodaime and is worth enough to buy three mountains. I could and would never sell it, because Baa-san told me that this thing as some sort of curse. Apparently, those who wear this necklace die soon after getting it, the only ones who don't later become Hokage." He smiles. "It seem that either she's full of shit or my dream's going to come true, because I've had it for close to two and a half years and haven't died yet."

She was about to give it back to him, but he stopped her. "Could you hold on to it until I'm done in the shower, don't want to lose it." She nodded and let go of his hand. He went into the bathroom and as she went to leave the bedroom, she saw that he placed the picture standing up. She smiled and walked out of the room.

Naruto and Hinata had left Konoha two days before and the forest was thinning. "We must be getting close to the desert. Pretty soon, we won't need these." He pulled a bit on his overcoat. They were making better time than either expected, even with Naruto almost constantly adding more chakra to the weights.

"If you keep that up, you'll be able to move as fast as Yondaime when he was using Hiraishin."

"The fox is good for something, it heals the muscle tears quicker and I grow in strength faster, not to mention the large chakra reserves."

**'Is that all you think I'm good for?'**

'Pretty much yeah, the advice you given me is normally a double-edged sword. There are a few times that it wasn't, like at the restaurant. Just out of curiosity, why did you help with that, I thought you said that matters of the heart didn't interest you.'

**'I was hoping you would mate with her.'**

'Why would you care if I did?'

**'So you would know what it was like to be with a female, in case we get captured by the snake fag or the cloaked bastards.**

'Hopefully, I'll have plenty of time to experience it.'

Hinata was getting use to him spacing out from time to time while speaking to Kyuubi, but he normally wasn't smiling when doing so. "We should camp at the edge of the trees tonight. After that we should probably travel at night so we don't fry in the desert sun."

"What are we going to do during the day?"

"Use our sleeping bags and extra clothes to make some shade, sleep a bit. There should be an oasis between here and Suna, we can stop there and refill on water. At the rate we've been going, we should be in Suna in three days."

"I'm in no rush. Either way, I get to spend time with you Hinata."

"Awww, how sweet. I didn't know you were so soft Naruto." A strong wind blew from the desert and a blonde woman carrying a large fan was walking towards them.

"You're the one dating the lazy bum Shikamaru."

She looked pissed. "Did he tell you?"

Naruto shook his head. "I heard a rumor, guess it was right."

"If you even hint of it to my brothers I'll kill you, understand?"

"Are you insane, they'd kill me just for being the messenger. So why are you here?"

"I'm suppose to escort you, I'm not sure why since we know you can take care of yourself."

"The Kazekage might not know that."

"You're kidding right?" She saw the confusion on his face and started laughing. "She didn't tell you, oh that's funny. You're gonna be in for one hell of a surprise."

'Why do people keep shit from me?' "Temari, I'm not sure if you remember or not, but this is Hinata Hyuga. She's my girlfriend."

"I got that from your conversation." She turned to Hinata. "What do you see in him?"

"You know, I'm not really sure, but I'm sure it the same with you and Shikamaru."

"Funny how that works isn't it. We fell for them, but can't explain why." She turned around and started walking the way she had come from.

They had stopped at the edge of the trees and made camp, by this time, both Naruto and Hinata had taken off their overcoats. "I'm surprised you're not wearing any orange Naruto."

"I think I shocked a couple of people in Konoha too. How has Gaara been doing?"

"Better, he changed after we came back from the Chunin exams, you made quite the impression on him. He's stopped killing people who he gets mad at, he's talking more, and slowly, he's changing the way the village sees him."

"That's good. I heard you guys helped during the mission to bring back Sasuke, sorry I didn't get to see any of you."

"It's okay, we didn't stay long."

"Still, I owe you all thanks. If it weren't for you there's a chance that none of us would have come back."

"Whatever. Lets get some sleep, we gotta moving in the morning."


	11. Chapter 11

The three of them traveled through the desert fairly quickly, but Naruto complained the whole way. "Why is it so damn hot?"

"It's actually on the cold side for this time of year."

"It gets hotter than this, how do you survive here?"

"We're use to it, which is why I prefer to stay here over going to Konoha, it's too cold for my tastes." They had reached Suna a short time ago and were making their way to the Kazekage's office.

As soon as the doors to the office opened, Naruto saw Kankuro standing in the room and the Kazekage's chair with the back to them. Temari glared at Kankuro, who was reading from a little orange book. "They're here." The chair spun around to reveal Gaara sitting there.

'You've gotta be shitting me.' "Damn Gaara, You've been keeping one hell of a secret from me. Congratulations, I'm a little pissed that you made Kage before I did, but I'm still happy for you."

"Speaking of secrets, you've been keeping something from me as well. You would probably not want your friend to hear this."

"If this has to do with Kyuubi, I have no problem talking about it with her here, she already knows."

"Alright. First why didn't you tell me?"

"Gaara I know I should have told you, especially after what we've been through, but until recently, I wasn't really comfortable talking about it. Hinata was the first person I told, and I was planning on telling you this time, but you already know. So, what brings us here?"

"Akatsuki."

"What about them?"

"I would like to share information."

"I've met two members, and can give you their names and descriptions, but I'm afraid I'm not really the one you should be talking to, Ero-sennin knows more than me."

"There is another reason, two members are on their way here, and I would like your help to defeat them."

"No problem, if there are only two, they won't be equipped to take both of us. If it's Itachi and Kisame though, we're still going to be in trouble."

"From what I understand, one of them is from the Hidden Rock and the other is Sasori from this village, he's a puppet master and created Karasu."

"Seeing as how my stronger jutsu are close range, maybe I should take the guy from Iwa. If this Sasori built Karasu, then he most likely has poisoned tipped weapons and with your sand, you won't have to get within striking range to fight him."

"I agree, but the way they are traveling is odd. They're riding on a large bird-like thing, I've never seen anything like it before."

"How long before they get here?"

"I would guess they would be here by nightfall at the earliest, morning at the latest. I have a room prepared at the hotel, I suggest you go there and rest incase they do come tonight."

"Thanks Gaara, but first I need to get something to eat."

As they started to leave, Gaara spoke up again. "You are one of the Hyugas from the Chunin Exam, correct?"

They turned around, Hinata smiling brightly. "Yes I am."

Gaara smiled slightly. "I'm glad that you know of Kyuubi and are still willing to travel with him alone."

"I know they aren't the same. Even if they were, I could never hate or fear him, I love him and nothing can change that."

"Hey would you three like to join us for lunch?"

"I'm sorry Naruto, but I have things that need to be attended to here."

Kankuro looked up from the book. "I could go for something."

"I have training with my genin team."

Temari and Kankuro followed them out of the building where Temari left to find her team. Kankuro was just like Kakashi, walking and reading at the same time. "Hey Naruto, you ever read these, they could help you with your girlfriend here." Hinata looked at him, obviously wanting to hear his answer.

"At least I have a girlfriend. I've only read one of them, and it wasn't really that good. Even if I didn't, I would know what they're each about seeing as how Ero-sennin writes the damn things." 'And I wrote the one he's reading.'

"Seriously, could you get me an autographed copy of his next one?"

"I could try, but Temari might kill me for it. Don't tell her you even how who writes them."

"You don't have to worry about that, she'd kill him and then there wouldn't be anymore in the series. Men everywhere would weep."

"He may be a pervert, but Kyuubi's much worse."

'**I can hear you brat!'**

Hinata started to giggle. "So that's way you were smiling before we met up with Temari."

"Actually no, he told me the reason why he helped me at the restaurant. I couldn't come up with a way to tell you, and he told me the method I used. This being after he said that those kind of affairs don't interest him."

"And, what the reason?"

"That's where it gets perverted. He hoped that we would do more than just sleep that night."

**'Just because I like being with naked women, doesn't mean I'm perverted! And _IF_ I am, it's because I've been locked in here for damn near 16 years!'**

"He basically just said that it's not his fault, he's been locked up after spending his life with several women."

"I don't blame him. With a demon's life span, I don't think anyone could go through being locked away for the rest of it and not be."

**'I like this boy.'**

'That's funny, last time you said you wanted to rip him apart.'

**'That was then, this is now.'**

"Where are we going?"

"Not sure, Kankuro, you have any recommendations?"

"There's a place not too far from here that's good. It's got damn near anything you could want."

"Sounds good, lead the way."

After lunch, Kankuro took them to the hotel they were staying at and left saying that he had to go to see Gaara. Almost as they got into their room, Naruto plopped down on the bed. "Finally, something comfy to sleep on, no more sand!" Hinata giggles at him. "What, it gets everywhere. I had some in my pants one morning." He stands up and walks over to Hinata, holding her to him. "Hinata, I want you to do something for me."

"What is it?"

"I want you to stay close to Temari once the two Akatsuki members show up."

She pulled away and looked into his eyes. "You don't want me with you?"

"I would never be able to forgive myself if anything happened to you. If they found out about us, they would go after you to get to me. I would go to the deepest depths of hell and back to protect you. I'm not saying that I doubt your ability to defend yourself, but they are all S-rank missing-nin."

"The last time I left you to fight on your own, I found you bleeding to death with a kunai in your shoulder."

"About that, did I really hear you, or was it just wishful thinking?"

"I said it, but don't change the subject."

"Last time I was caught off guard when I thought I had won, this time I won't be holding back."

"If I do agree, I want you to promise me that you will never ask me to again, even if you're going up against Orochimaru and Sasuke."

"This is not your fight, it mine and Gaara's, they are after us."

"That is why I want to fight them, they're trying to take away one of the only things that make my life worth while."

"You don't know what they're like or what they're capable of Hinata. They will stop at nothing to capture those like Gaara and me, even torturing those we care about in front of us. I've felt more pain than anyone should ever have to, and if I were to lose you…" He dropped his gaze. "I'm not strong enough to take that kind of loss, I wouldn't survive it."

"I'm not going anywhere, as long as we're together we won't lose. I know you will protect me as long as you are able, and I will fight right beside you. What will it be Naruto, you can only ask this of me once, will it be now or later?"

"Please Hinata, don't make me chose, I've almost lost you once already."

"Are you talking about the Chunin Exams?"

"No, when I told you about Kyuubi."

"Sasuke was gone by the time I got back."

He shook his head. "When I told you, a part of me wanted you to not accept me, it knew that by doing so, you would be safe. Not only from them, but also from me, when I use large amounts of Kyuubi's chakra, he takes over. He doesn't care who's around, he'll kill them all. My heart felt like it was being crushed when you realized who I was talking about. I realized just how much I cared for you, and it's only gotten stronger since then."

**'Kit, let me talk to her.'**

'If I do, and you hurt her, so help me I'll make sure that nothing you do will be able to save you.'

**'Why would I hurt one of the only humans I've deemed worthy enough to remember their names?'**

'Do you really want me to answer that? Fine, whatever.'

**'Thanks Kit, just so you know, you won't be able to hear what we say.'**

'You bastard, you never told me that!'

**'Now you get a sample of what I go through everyday.' **Kyuubi's chakra flowed through him, changing his appearance, and making Hinata jump.** "Don't worry, I have no intension of harming you. The Kit was gracious enough to allow me to speak with you."**

"Why did you want to talk to me?"

**"To clear a few things up, first, I'm not perverted, I wanted the kit to mate with you so if the Snake-Fag or the Cloaked Bastards captured him, he would know what it was like to be with a female and because I am sealed in him, he is technically my heir. As such, I wanted him to produce an heir to continue my legacy. Also, he has had feelings for you for some time, he just wasn't sure what he was feeling. Do you know why he is training with weights?"**

"To increase his speed and endurance."

**"Those too, but the main reason is so he can use more of my power. He asked me the second night into your trip, he didn't give a reason, but being sealed into him has some perks as I found it in his head, he wants it to protect you from them, but as he can use more now, we do not know when I take over, before it was four tails. That is why he doesn't want you to fight, so if he pushes too far he won't have to worry about hurting you. He lied by the way, his whole being hoped that you would accept him, I was the one who knew if you didn't you would be safe. You are his strongest support, without you he would break down, I doubt even I could keep him from death."**

"I don't plan on going anywhere."

**"I know you don't, but be careful, I'm not willing to die yet."** The chakra receded and Naruto took over again.

He shook his head to clear the haze. "Damn fox, it's bad enough that it feels like I got hit by Tsunade's super strength, but then he doesn't tell me all the details till after I agree. Mind filling me in Hinata?"

"He just wanted to say a few things that you failed to mention and clear up a few things." He looked confused at this. "Like the real reason behind the weights. Why didn't you tell me?"

"There's actually a simple reason for that, when I first got them, you didn't know about Kyuubi and once you did, I forgot due to concentrating on returning to Konoha to deliver the letter and then the excitement of seeing Gaara again. Sorry, but I short attention span, remember the academy? Iruka-sensei use to yell at me all the time because of it."

"Okay, just please tell me next time." He nodded. "Thank you, he also told me why you didn't want me to fight alongside of you, which I can say I'm not so angry about now that I know, but that doesn't mean I won't, you still have to choose."

"I still don't think it's a good idea, your confidence in yourself has gone up a lot, and you could kick some ass before I left, but they're S-rank missing ninja, not many can hold their own against them."

"What about you two?"

"Gaara has his Suna Tate to protect him, and I've been training to fight them, I may not have been able finished the training, but I was progressing fast, and what I did learn should give me the advantage." She opened her mouth to protest, but he didn't give her the chance. "We should get some rest it's going to be a long night. He started towards the bed and chuckled when he saw Minato curled up on one of the pillows. "Looks like I'm not the only one who's tried of sleeping on sand." He gently picked up the pillow and moved it to the foot of the bed before laying down. Hinata joined him not long after.

Naruto was woke by a loud knocking and quickly made it to the door. Outside the door was a young ninja, that he guessed was a chunin. "Are you Naruto Uzumaki?" He nodded groggily. "Kazekage-sama wishes to speak with you in his office."

"Thanks, I'll be there as soon as I can." The chunin nodded and left as Naruto closed the door and went back towards the bed to see Hinata looking at him. "You heard him right?" She nodded. "Then I don't have to repeat it. I'll be back in little bit, you should try to go back to bed."

"What if this has to do with the upcoming battle?"

"If it had already started, that guy wouldn't have been so calm, and if this meeting is about the battle, I tell you everything when I get back, okay?"

"I want you to promise me something."

"What?"

"That you won't ask Gaara to assign me away from the fighting. Tsunade-sama told us to do what he asks, but I don't want you to use your friendship with him against me."

"I promise, but just so you know, I just want for you to be safe."

"I know, and I love you for it, but you can't always protect me." He slipped on his sandals and made his way to the Kazekage tower. He found the desert night to be quite cool almost to the point that he wished he had his overcoat with him, but at the same time happy to have a change from the blistering heat of the day. It took about fifteen minutes to find his way to the tower and another five to reach Gaara's office, where he found Gaara, Temari, Kankuro, Baki and a little old woman he didn't know who had what appeared to be a prosthetic right arm. "You wanted to see me Gaara?"

"Yes, you remember Baki, and this is Chiyo, she was the one to train Sasori in the art of puppetry and from what I've read, the one that my father had seal Shukaku into me."

"As fascinating as that is, could you please just tell me why I'm here?"

"The Hokage sent some additional shinobi to aid us, and as you are more familiar with our enemy, to ask your advice in this situation."

"Well, as I said, I've never encountered these two before, so I don't know what they are capable of. Since they are from Akatsuki, I would suggest that you get everyone except the more experienced jonin out of the village, and a good distance away."

Chiyo's mouth was hanging open. "Do you have any idea how many people that is and what it would take to do so in the time we have?"

"No, I don't. But if they are anything like the two I have encountered, the fewer people around the better. They won't care who they hurt as long as they get their prize. If you do decide to do so, leave a team of medical ninja here, keep them hidden and near the battlefield, but far enough away that they won't be in danger from stray jutsu."

"There are those here that will be resistant to leaving. And what of the shinobi who do not wish to leave their comrades, aren't you Leaf ninja always going on about the 'Will of Fire'?"

"Homes can be fixed, deaths can't be. Comradeship is important, but the villagers are just as much comrades as the men and women that serve beside a ninja. The Will of fire doesn't only include shinobi, but every man, woman, and child in the village."

Chiyo snorted. "Easy for you to say, you have nothing to lose if this village is turned to dust."

"I don't give a rat's ass about what you think of me hag, but let's get one thing straight, Gaara has asked me to help him protect his home and because he is my friend, I will do so even if it cost me my life." This left Chiyo speechless, and the rest of them smiling or smirking.

"Naruto, I believe your suggestion is the right one, however, even with the two of us, we will need more than a few jonin to win. So the chunin and genin shall accompany the civilians while the jonin and two medical teams shall conceal themselves until needed."

"Gaara, you don't mean us too do you?"

"Yes I do."

"But Gaara…"

"No Temari, both of you will accompany the civilians, is that understood?"

They both looked scared, but not of Gaara. "Yes Gaara."

He nodded his confirmation. "I do not know when the others from Konoha will arrive, but the letter from the Hokage said that there would be a medical ninja in training, a strategist chunin, and a experienced jonin. The only other information was that the medic is able to heal, but could only deal with poisons to an extent, which would have been helpful in our situation. What about your companion?"

"I promised her that I wouldn't have any say in that, it's completely up to you."

"She is a short range specialist correct?" Naruto nodded. "She would be of little help here, so she'll also go with the civilians. Kankuro, start gathering the chunin and genin and then start evacuating. Temari inform Naruto's companion and then both of you help Kankuro. Baki, assemble the jonin, Chiyo, select the best medical ninja for this assignment." They all nodded and left Gaara and Naruto standing there.

'She won't be happy, but she'll be safe.' "Gaara, there's a chance I'll use more of Kyuubi's chakra than I can handle, I've been working to control more of it, but I don't know how far I've gotten. If I push too far, it's like when you fall asleep, the demon comes out and reeks havoc. If that happens, you have to stop him, even if you have to kill me."

"I understand, but I hope that it does not come to that."

"So do I Gaara. The Shinigami himself wouldn't be able to stop Hinata from kicking my ass for dying so soon after we got together."


	12. Bomber Man and Pinocchio

**A/N: I'm so sorry that it took so long, but it's up now and I hope you enjoy it. I've gone back and changed to Arashi to Minato in every chapter, both the fox's name and the Yondaime's. I think that about covers everything, and once again I sorry for how long it took. Now on with the story!**

--

Hinata was just pulling on her sandals when there was a knock on the door. She opened it to find Temari, her battle fan strapped to her back. "Gaara sent me, we're to help Kankuro gather all genin and chunin to evacuate the civilians, then stay with them for their protection." Hinata look slightly angry, but when she opened her mouth Temari cut her off. "Naruto didn't ask Gaara to send you with us. The only thing he said about you was that you didn't want him to have a say in what you were to do. He even nodded when asked if you are a close range fighter."

"So is Naruto."

"He also has Kyuubi and his clones. Besides that, I know you were both told to follow Gaara's orders, so for the time being, you both are basically Suna-nins." Temari sighed when the rage in Hinata's eyes only increased. "Look, I want to fight them as much as you do, for close to the same reasons, but like it or not we were told to protect the villagers, and if we fail to do that everything those two will be fighting for will mean nothing." Hinata nodded but still didn't look happy, an expression shared by Temari. "Come on, we're wasting time." Hinata followed her out with Minato at her heels.

--

Naruto and Gaara stood together atop the Kazekage tower staring out across the desert. In a few hours time, this place would be a battlefield, but at the moment it was peaceful. Without a glance towards him, Gaara knew his fellow Jinchuuriki was worried about something. "You are worried. Why?"

"Ero-sennin said they wouldn't be on the move for another year and a half, but now they are coming here, something doesn't make sense. Why send someone to capture you when they can't extract Shukaku from you yet?"

"Perhaps their plans are ahead of schedule, perhaps they fed him false information, a great number of possibilities could have happened. But it no longer matters, they are coming and that is what we must focus on."

Naruto smiled as he watched the hundreds of ninja rushing around the village. "I suppose you're right." Naruto's smile quickly faded. "I'm worried that Hinata and your siblings may come back to help Gaara. They're not ready to face opponents like these."

"Are you?"

"If it were just me, I'd say no, but with you and the jonin, I'd say we'll put up one hell of a fight."

"You don't believe we'll be victorious?"

"They're S-rank for a reason. We know next to nothing about either of them, or how they fight. I mean I've been known to pull wins out of my ass, but I'm know luck will only get me so far, and I think that maybe my luck is running out. My last encounter with Akatsuki ended with Sasuke in a coma and Ero-sennin saving me." Sand encased his entire body except his head. "Gaara, what the hell are you doing?!"

"You are not the person who defeated me. He would not and did not give up because he was out matched, he fought past his limits to protect a single person, but you will now when I ask you to help save many more. If that is true, I shall kill you now for you will be useless to me." He begin to close his hand when the sand coffin explode outward and Naruto dropped to the ground, his eyes red, his pupil were slits, and his whisker marks were wider and more defined. He landed on his feet as he started to change back. "Welcome back."

A smile stretched across Naruto's face. "Thanks, I really needed that, but you really didn't need to try and crush me, you could have just clocked me, that's what Sakura does."

Gaara smirked. "It was effective nonetheless. Brooding doesn't suit you."

"Couldn't agree more."

--

It didn't take more than a few hours to completely evacuate the city, and there was still no sign of Akatsuki or the Konoha ninjas. Gaara and Naruto had moved to the wall as soon as they saw the first group of villagers being herded out of the city walls, now the wall was lined with Jonin and Naruto knew that there were five teams of medical ninja hidden in buildings nearby, each group was composed of four with a group of twelve of the less experienced Jonin as guards, and possible replacements if needed. Gaara was the first to notice something moving on the horizon, it was on the ground and coming towards them. "Something's coming."

He opened his mouth to call the order, but Naruto placed a hand on Gaara's shoulder. "I'll send a clone to check." Gaara nodded and Naruto formed the cross seal. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." In a puff of smoke and single clone appeared and jumped outside of the wall, before taking off towards the target. In moments, the clone had reached its target, picked it up, and was on the way back to the wall. After jumping back up to where Gaara and Naruto stood, the clone set down a pug wearing a blue coat and Konoha hitai-ate before dismissing itself. "Pakkun, I guess that means Kakashi one of the three coming to help us."

"Naruto, Kakashi sent me ahead, they're still about an hour out. I'm supposed to tell you that according to Jiraiya, they should arrive shortly after Akatsuki does. Sakura says not to do anything stupid, and Shikamaru is… well Shikamaru, but he did mumble something about a troublesome blonde."

"Alright, thanks for the intel Pakkun." The pug nodded and was shrouded in smoke as he dismissed himself. Naruto turned to Gaara. "Well, that couldn't have worked out better. Kakashi-sensei's Raiton and Katon jutsu will come in handy for destroying the puppets, and depending on how well Shikamaru's Kage Mane no Jutsu works at night and in early morning light, he could stop a few from moving. Sakura, well according to Ero-sennin, Baa-san's a slave driver, so I have no idea how far she's come in her training, but you said she wasn't fully trained to handle poisons, so that probably means they didn't start with medical jutsu." Naruto shudders. "And if that's true, I definitely don't want to piss her off."

"It will be worse if Nee-san's boyfriend should die."

Naruto's face paled. "You know about that?" Gaara just nodded. "You guys should tell her then, she more scared of how'll you react then she was when you let Shukaku out at the Chunin Exams."

"Nii-san doesn't know. I probably wouldn't either if it weren't for the fact that I can't sleep." Naruto looked really confused. "She's always excited to go to Konoha, and happier than usual when she returns, but I thought nothing of it until I heard her talk about him in her sleep. I admit at first I wanted nothing more than to crush him, I had just recently starting to get closer to my siblings, I saw it as him was trying to take part of my family from me. As these occurrences continued, I saw how happy she really was, and I realized that if I killed him, I would still lose her. I was happy that she had found someone that made her happy in ways I cannot, but sad at the same time because I would lose her to him."

Naruto gave his friend and fellow Jinchuuriki a small true smile. "Gaara, even if they get married, you'll never lose her, she'll still be your sister no matter what. But instead of thinking of it as losing a sister, think of it as gaining a new brother, since he'll be as much apart of your family as she is of his." His smile widened as he turned back to keep watch. "Kankuro on the other hand, even if you wanted to, you probably couldn't get rid of him."

"Ever since I accepted the idea, I've wanted to meet him again to do three things, first thank him for making her happy, second give them my blessing, and to warn him that if he breaks her heart, I _will_ break him. Now I get to, but I wish it were under better circumstances."

"Well, you know what they say, can't win them all."

It was then that Chiyo joined them on the wall. "Any sign?"

Though the question was probably directed at Gaara, it was Naruto who answered. "No, but there's something that's bothering me. When I arrived Gaara said they were travel atop a bird-like thing, and I was wondering if a puppeteer could make a puppet fly while on top of it, or if you had heard of a summoning contract for a type of bird."

"Well, summoning contracts are normally kept secrets even among allied villages, Konoha being an exception with the Sannin. I have never heard of any such contract being used, but it could just be that no one has lived to tell about it. As for if it is a puppet, it would have to be completely hollow and the puppeteer would have to be a trained wind user, which Sasori is not, he has an earth affinity. In all likely hood, it's the Iwa ninja that is transporting them, but I have no idea how."

"If that's true, we have a problem, I don't actually know any long range jutsu." Chiyo gave him a look that clearly said 'What the hell?' "Well, unless you count summoning as a long range jutsu, otherwise I know a few close range, and a mid to long range that is useless against anything in the air unless they land on it."

"There's nothing we can do about it now except adapt to the new circumstances. We'll simply switch opponents, but you'll have to be more careful than you were in the exams, a single hit and it could be over."

"I just hope it's that simple Gaara."

"You're still concerned that Temari, Kankuro, and your girlfriend will try to return to help." Naruto just nodded. "Nee-san and Nii-san know enough to follow my orders, they'll keep her there."

"Maybe so, but if Hinata uses the Byakugan to watch the battle, which I'm sure she will, will Kankuro be able to keep both her and Temari from coming once Shikamaru arrives?"

"Most likely not. Could you send a clone to them and inform him at least, maybe even the medic-nin to divert to their location?"

"I've never sent a clone that far before, I don't know if the clone would reach them or not."

The puppet master brought the attention back to herself. "He wouldn't have the time to in any case, the enemy is coming." Both turned and saw a shape in the sky, and it was getting closer quickly.

--

Hinata stood the closest to the village, just barely within normal sight range, with her Byakugan on. "They're here. I still don't understand why they don't want us down there."

Temari and Kankuro stand just behind her, but it was Temari who answered. "Think about it Hinata, if you were down there, what do you think Naruto would be more focused on, the fight, or protecting you? It's the same with us. After the Chunin Exams, Gaara started changing himself to become like Naruto, well not completely, but at least his out look on life and the village. Those two will do anything to protect those they care about."

"How can you be sure?"

This time Kankuro smiled. "Because that's one of the things Gaara admires most about Naruto. He fought Gaara to save the pink haired girl from being crushed by sand, and refused to give up even after Gaara gave control over to Shukaku. After he won against Shukaku, they were both out of energy, but he still managed to keep moving, granted he was crawling but still. At least till the Uchiha told him she was safe, then he passed out. So, any sign of the three Konoha sent?"

"Konoha sent three more people? Who?"

"Don't know, but there's a med-nin, an strategist, and an experienced Jonin."

Hinata focused her enhanced vision on the direction of Konoha and gasped. "They're about four hundred yards from the wall, Sakura, Kakashi, and…" Turning her Byakugan off and turned to the siblings.

Temari felt her chest tightening and Kankuro grew impatient. "Well, who's the third person?"

Temari spoke in an almost whisper. "It's Shikamaru, isn't it?" Hinata didn't say anything, she just looked away, and Temari felt like her heart stopped. For a brief moment, she had thought of staying, but that thought was shattered with the sound and sight of a massive explosion form the village walls. "Alright Hinata, I'm with you. Kankuro…"

"If you think you're going to leave me behind, you're out of your mind. But when Gaara gets pissed at us, I'm saying you dragged me along when you went to save your boy toy Shikamaru."

He smirked when she blushed. "What are you talking about?"

"You know perfectly well. You should hide your dairy better, it was what got me into reading the Icha Icha series in the first place. You should really think about publishing some of it, I sure you could give Icha Icha a run for its money."

Her blush increased ten fold and Hinata even had a small blush. 'When this is over, I am going to kill Kankuro.' The three of them took off towards the village, witnessing several more explosions along the way.

--

"It would seem they've been expecting us Sasori-sama, and they've even brought the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki for us."

"You are not prepared to handle both of them Deidara, so it seems I must also join the battle."

Forty feet from the wall, something, or someone dropped from the bird-like thing, before said bird thing sped up its approach towards the wall. The first explosion happened ten feet from the wall and Naruto turned to Gaara. "So you're taking Bomber Man and I get Pinocchio?" Gaara nodded. The two of them were the first to jump from the wall towards the enemy, followed quickly by the jonin. Gaara was met in midair by a pillar of sand that lifted him toward the Iwa ninja, while Naruto weaved his way through a rain of smaller bird shaped objects, and the resulting explosion from them as he made his way towards Sasori. Most of the jonin followed Naruto, Chiyo among them, in his charge of Sasori, while the others launched jutsu in to the sky at the flying Iwa ninja.

Sasori had a large figure, but was hunched over, and his black hair was in corn rolls. "Uzumaki, your presence is unexpected, but not unwelcome. It saves us the trouble of hunting you down later." Chiyo reached Naruto's side as Sasori spoke. "Hello Obaa-san, you're looking well. Given the welcome we've received, I very much doubt that you will willingly hand the two Jinchuuriki over to us." Chiyo's reply was to reach inside of her sleeves and pull out a line of wire that had twelve kunai attached to it. "I see you have made your decision, very well."

With a flick of her wrists, the kunai all shot forward. "Soushuuzen." As they neared Sasori, a scorpion-like tail came from beneath his cloak and whipped out in front of him, knocking down all of the kunai, except two that Chiyo had attached chakra strings to and maneuvered them so that they cut Sasori's cloak from the shoulders back. In doing so, the remains of the cloak fell to the ground revealing a mask shaped shell on his back, the tail coming out from its mouth, his left arm was a large metallic cylinder with more metal rods sticking out in every direction. "You've been modifying Hiruko I see. Tell me, do you hide within your puppet like a scared little boy, or send it to do your dirty work like a coward?"

Sasori's right arm reached up and ripped the cloth that covered his mouth away revealing a five-piece jaw. "_You _accuse _me_ of hiding Obaa-san? After you and your brother hid yourselves away after my departure."

His tail shot towards her, aiming straight for her heart. "Rasengan!" Naruto stepped in front of her, spiraling orb of chakra in hand, and smashed it into head on into the tip of the tail, throwing it back, but nothing more. "Damn it, the Rasengan didn't even scratch it. Hey Chiyo, you know more about this thing than I do, what do we do?"

"We have to break Hiruko in order to expose Sasori, but I'm afraid I don't have that kind of destructive power."

"Well since the Rasengan didn't work, I only have one thing more powerful." He made a cross with his index and middle fingers. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." A single clone appeared behind him and slightly to the right. He began swirling chakra in the palm of his hand, while the clone pushed even more chakra into it, expanding it to rough the size of his torso. "Odama Rasengan!" Both he and his clone ran forward, and Sasori's mouth opened, sending hundreds, if not thousands of needles flying toward them. While the large orb was in the way of the real Naruto, his clone was hit multiply times. It dispelled and without its added control of the chakra, the giant Rasengan became unstable. Even though he knew this, Naruto kept up his charge, but luck it seemed was not on his side. Before he got within five feet of the puppet master the ball exploded, sending him flying back the way he came and skidding through the sand. His hand was burnt, his clothes ragged, and his body sore, but he got back to his feet.

The explosion had also hit Sasori, but not nearly as bad, he had been pushed back a few feet, but remained stand. "It seems Itachi's description of you was right, you charge in with an all or nothing attack, it's surprising you've lasted this long. But then, I guess the Kyuubi is the reason for that."

"Shut up, you know nothing about me!" He placed his hands in the ram seal. "Kai!" There was a quick flash of light blue, when it was gone, so was he. All Chiyo heard was an impact against wood and turned to find Naruto where Sasori had been, arm stretched out, and said puppet master flying through the air. When he landed she saw that the left half of the jaw was off the slides and stuck up in the mouth, as well as him having a spider webbed crack on the left cheek. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." Smoke clouded the view of everyone and when it was gone, two hundred Narutos stood around Sasori. "I may not be able to pack as much a punch as Baa-san, but you can be damn sure that I will break that puppet apart, even if it has to be piece by piece."

Sasori jumped high into the air and pointed his left arm towards the ground. "Now you die!" The metal arm shot off and started spinning, releasing the smaller metal cylinders in all directions. Each of the metal rods split in two and released a barrage of needles. One by one the clones were destroyed as they were hit till the area was clouded in smoke again. It was dispersed faster than before as the smoke started swirling as if forming a tornado. The fact was through, that another Rasengan was pulling it in, it was a normal sized one, and it was grinding against Hiruko's underside, Naruto had sand falling from his clothes, and his arm outstretched as through he was delivering an uppercut. After a moment, gravity took affect over them again and brought them back to the ground. Neither had a very soft landing, but Naruto's was better than Sasori's, who landed on his back revealing the spiral grinded into the wood of Hiruko's stomach. They were both on their feet shortly. "It seems Itachi wasn't completely accurate, you do plan ahead somewhat. Using the smoke screen created by making your clones to go underground, but it won't work on me again."

--

Gaara had started things off immediately by raising a fifteen-foot wide column of sand around Deidara, and started to compress it around him. The process was slow due to the sand not have his chakra infused in it like the sand in his gourd, but it was soon proven to be for nothing as there was an explosion from within the column that blew the sand away. "It will take more than that to beat my art." Deidara threw six small white bird-shaped objects and put his hands in the ram seal. A small puff of smoke hid the objects for a second before they burst through it, their wings flapping and headed straight for Gaara. They didn't even make it ten feet before they exploded. Deidara looked around frantically and saw Baki standing at the highest point of the wall looking he had just swung a sword, but had nothing in his hands.

Taking advantage of his distraction, Gaara created two streams of sand on both sides of Deidara and smashed them into each other, but Deidara wasn't so distracted that he dropped his guard. Unable to save the bird he was on, he jumped straight up and in another puff of smoke stood a top a large owl, as his previous ride exploded from being crushed. He saw Baki swing again and dodge out of the way, but since he was unable to see what he was dodging, he wasn't able to get completely out of the way. As a result, the hair that covered his left eye was cut off revealing a range finder. "Your interruptions are starting to piss me off!" He threw a long object and again there was smoke, but this time what emerged was a twenty-foot long centipede aimed at Baki.

Gaara raised his arm and the desert sand shot upward and formed a wall in front of the jonin just before the centipede reached its target. It exploded on contact and the sand dropped back to the ground. While Gaara was busy however, Deidara sent more small birds at Gaara. Instantly, the sand from his gourd raced to protect him. 'So that's his absolute defense huh, that sand seems to move faster than that from the desert. If I remember right, the report said that he always carries a set amount of sand in the gourd on his back, so it stands to reason that it would be attuned to his chakra.' He reached his hands into the pouches at his sides and frowned. 'I'm running out of clay, maybe Sasori-sama was right about needing more than one bag. Well if all else fails, I still have my specialty.' At this thought, a smile made it's way to his lips, at least till he realized that he was about to be hit by sand that resembled one of Shukaku's arms.

He was able to get out of the way of the limb, but was taken by surprise when another one spilt off from it as it passed by and grabbed his arm left. "Sabaku Kyuu." It slowly crept up to his shoulder, and he watched in horror as Gaara clenched his hand into a fist. "Sabaku Soso." Blood squirted from the sand as Deidara screamed in pain and then the sand fell, before being blown away in the wind. Now as you can imagine, Deidara is way beyond pissed and he throws two swan shaped clay birds and after a puff like everything else he makes, each bird's four wings start fluttering like crazy, flying at extreme speeds towards Gaara, who tries to stop them with his sand but to no avail. Again they were cut in two before exploding, but instead of the invisible blade of wind that Baki uses, there were several and they were visible. 'That was Temari's Kamaitachi, it seems Naruto was right to worry.'

Deidara glared down at the newcomer. 'I forgot, this Jinchuuriki has siblings.' A wicked smirk found its way on to his lips despite the immense pain he was in. 'I guess now would be the best time to use my specialty.'

--

**Next Time: The Battle's Conclusion (I think) and Arrival of More Leaf Ninja**


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